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BoyleSports Buys 35 Betting Shops from William Hill

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Irish bookmaker BoyleSports has bought 35 William Hill betting shops in Northern Ireland and Isle of Man, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will significantly strengthen the independent bookmaker’s foothold in Northern Ireland where tough licensing conditions make it difficult to open betting shops up from scratch.

It is believed that BoyleSports has paid between £10 million and £15 million for William Hill’s 33 betting shops across Northern Ireland, as well as two shops in the Isle of Man. This has been BoyleSports’ largest acquisition to date and makes the company the biggest operator of betting shops on the island of Ireland.

BoyleSports, which hails from Dundalk, currently operates 259 shops in the Republic of Ireland and six shops in Northern Ireland.

The bookmaker said that the recent transactions were the result of its strategy to focus its attention on expanding its operations outside the Republic of Ireland due to the government’s decision to double betting duties.

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Golden Whale to provide ML-powered solutions to SYNOT Games

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Industry-leading data science company teams up with global iGaming group to drive player engagement and game distribution

Golden Whale Productions, the market-leading data science specialist for the iGaming industry, has announced it has formed a new partnership with SYNOT Games that will utilise ML-powered solutions to enhance multiple facets of the latter’s business.

Officially signing on as a game supplier for the company, Golden Whale will use its combination of AI and machine learning systems to drive activity and game distribution across SYNOT’s customer base.

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By harnessing the power of Golden Whale’s prediction models, SYNOT will be able to deploy automated systems that analyse and respond to game play data before providing recommendations for improvement, opening up a world of exciting possibilities for the company.

Armed with these ML-backed insights, SYNOT will be able to analyse user data at greater speed and on a far more granular level, with this in turn empowering the group to continue providing cutting edge solutions that are capable of scaling with the ever-growing nature of its operations.

Given SYNOT currently operates in more than 30 countries worldwide, these potential optimisations obviously have big implications for the business, both in terms of refining its product line-up and securing new partnership deals around the globe.

As such, representatives of both companies have already spoken of their excitement over what promises to be a hugely beneficial collaboration and are extremely optimistic about what they will be able to achieve together when the first wave of game specific insights have been garnered.

Eberhard Dürrschmid, Chief Executive Officer at Golden Whale, said: “Golden Whale are very happy to announce the details of our latest strategic partnership with SYNOT Games and we’re really looking forward to working alongside a business with such a strong track record in iGaming.

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“It’s my firm belief that both predictive solutions and machine learning in general have an increasingly important role to play in the game development and sales process – and armed with our powerful technologies, we’re certain SYNOT will be well-placed to capitalise on this in future.”

Filip Hlaváček, Chief Product Officer at SYNOT Games, said: “At SYNOT Games we’ve long prided ourselves on adopting cutting edge technology across our games and solutions, so teaming up with a pioneering data science company like Golden Whale was an obvious fit for us.

“We believe that the insights their predictive models will provide for our business across all facets of customer engagement and game distribution will prove to be a major asset for us and we’re extremely optimistic about what we’ll be able to achieve together going forward.”

The post Golden Whale to provide ML-powered solutions to SYNOT Games appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Movers and Shakers: Why Customer Service is the Unsung Hero in Player Retention: An Insider’s Perspective on Maximizing Lifetime Value in a Competitive Market

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“Movers and Shakers” is a dynamic monthly column dedicated to exploring the latest trends, developments, and influential voices in the iGaming industry. Powered by GameOn and supported by HIPTHER, this op-ed series delves into the key players, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes shaping the future of online gaming. Each month, industry experts offer their insights and perspectives, providing readers with in-depth analysis and thought-provoking commentary on what’s driving the iGaming world forward. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the scene, “Movers and Shakers” is your go-to source for staying ahead in the rapidly evolving iGaming landscape. 

 

Do a lot of operators overlook customer service and its critical role in player acquisition and retention?

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Absolutely. Many operators don’t fully recognise just how crucial customer service is, particularly for retention purposes. While acquiring players puts less pressure on customer service, retaining them is a separate challenge. As CPAs rise with operators competing intensely for new customers, ensuring those customers are retained for as long as possible becomes the main objective. Here, customer service is essential in maximising player lifetime value (LTV) and driving continuous engagement.

Unfortunately, there’s often a race to the bottom with customer service, where cost-cutting leads to reduced quality. When customers reach out to support, it’s usually due to a problem. If they’re met with impersonal, unhelpful service, their dissatisfaction can be amplified, which can harm brand loyalty. This is especially significant today when digital engagement is so prevalent – those moments of human interaction carry enormous weight.

As for in-house versus outsourced customer service, it’s a long-standing debate. While building in-house teams offers control, it also brings high overhead. For those who choose to outsource, the key is partnering with a provider that aligns with their brand’s values, tone, and processes. When done well, customer service can strengthen player trust, a critical factor as operators aim to retain players and outbalance acquisition costs with high LTVs.

 

Why is customer service so important, and what opportunities does it bring when done right?

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Customer service is a powerful trust-builder between brand and player. In an ever increasingly digital-first industry where human interaction is rare, these personal connections reinforce trust, ensuring a feeling of safety and value amongst players. Any opportunity an operator gets to maintain a level of personability needs to be maximised.

I would almost flip this question and say ‘what are the pitfalls when done wrong/poorly’. Customer Service is there to ensure that if things go wrong; bonus rounds aren’t paid out, welcome offers aren’t received, withdrawals aren’t functioning optimally, the customer is made to feel safe and reassured, in an efficient, positive manner. Customer Service is the first and last line of defence for the operator in making sure that the ultimate pitfall, a player churning due to negative experience, is never realised.

 

What challenges do operators face in setting up a customer service team, especially for international operators?

Setting up and managing a customer service team can be an enormous undertaking, especially for international operators. It requires dedicated resources, which often means sacrificing focus on core business strategy. Recruiting, hiring, and training customer service staff demand significant time and money, and for senior roles, costs can rise even further.

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Of course, for operators who have a more global reach and team base, this can present additional challenges. There are many regions where there is an abundance of talent for operators to build teams in, of course, however the location of these teams is a critical aspect of this. Setting up in a sub-optimal location for one’s operation, could spell long-term trouble from a management and cultural perspective, particularly if services being offered are on a 24/7 basis.

Operators will want to have their operational teams aligned with their live jurisdictions as much as possible, particularly from a time zone perspective to ensure that synergy between teams and operation doesn’t become strained and also so that team members aren’t consistently having to work unfavourable hours in order to align with peak times of the day. For example, operators in North America/Latam who set-up a CS team in Asia, could find alignment between teams difficult, not least likely incurring additional costs for a large portion of the workforce having to work through the night to meet peak times in live markets, not only from a financial perspective but also culturally, keeping that team motivated and ingrained in the operation could become very difficult.

 

How can these challenges be overcome, and how can RokkerX help?

RokkerX takes the operational burden away from our clients, allowing them to devote more time to optimising their strategy and driving the business forward. Having provided dynamic research, and strategic and operational consultancy to over 50 operator and B2B suppliers over the past 9 years, we offer our clients an experienced partner to enable them to take greater control of their operation, without the overhead.

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With an implicit understanding of end-to-end iGaming operations, we transitioned seamlessly into the Managed Services space at the start of 2023, offering a large suite of services to our clients. We thought having provided the industry with strategic and operational consultancy, it was a natural next step to actually run areas of a client’s operation for them.

We have already launched hubs in the UK, Spain and Bulgaria, soon to be launching in Columbo (Sri Lanka) and Sao Paulo in Brazil with 2 further clients, and have a proven track record as a partner with a heavy focus on scaling while retaining that same team culture we have always prided ourselves on. We continue to scale the team significantly in Bulgaria, which is our main hub, having recently agreed on a new office to hold up to 120 team members.

With the combination of the services we offer our clients; Trading & Operations, Customer Service, ‘KYC, AML, Fraud & Payments and Player Retention, we are able to provide our clients with a holistic approach to strategy in their operational services. We are able to triangulate several sources of data for a clients operation and enable them to continue to shape their strategy just in a more optimal way, be it bonus strategy, retentional mechanisms, product enhancements etc.

 

How does customer service integrate with areas like KYC and AML?

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In iGaming, the lines between services like customer support, KYC, and AML often blur. Depending on the operator, customer service might be expected to handle payment support, KYC checks, or even fraud detection. Offering these services together allows us to provide a comprehensive support system that covers essential risk areas and keeps operations secure.

Our expertise extends across these areas, giving us the flexibility to support clients with a unified approach. With subject matter experts in each field, we help customers resolve a wide range of issues while safeguarding operational integrity. This “one-stop shop” model reduces the need for multiple suppliers, simplifying management for our clients and minimising the risk of control issues.

 

Is customer service the most effective way of engaging with players and building trust? Why is this so important for online casinos and sportsbooks?

Customer service is certainly one of the most effective ways to build trust with players and ensure they are retained, but naturally, high-quality and efficient customer service is most impactful if it is part of a broader engagement strategy. Effective, responsive support reassures players that they’re heard and assisted whenever needed, however, combining customer service with transparent communication, personalised experiences, and consistent value can deepen engagement even further. Ultimately, customer service is crucial, but a holistic approach, as mentioned previously, that also prioritises user experience and multiple trust-building measures is most effective for long-term engagement.

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As discussed already, industry reputation and player confidence are two areas that both sportsbook and casino operators rely on. Players are not only investing their time but of course also their money, and any doubts about fairness, security, or reliability can damage these two factors and quickly reduce engagement with their brands. Transparent communication and integrity can be achieved through quality customer service both of which are building blocks towards long-lasting success in this industry.

 

The post Movers and Shakers: Why Customer Service is the Unsung Hero in Player Retention: An Insider’s Perspective on Maximizing Lifetime Value in a Competitive Market appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Movers and Shakers: Unlocking New Audiences Through Live Streaming

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“Movers and Shakers” is a dynamic monthly column dedicated to exploring the latest trends, developments, and influential voices in the iGaming industry. Powered by GameOn and supported by HIPTHER, this op-ed series delves into the key players, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes shaping the future of online gaming. Each month, industry experts offer their insights and perspectives, providing readers with in-depth analysis and thought-provoking commentary on what’s driving the iGaming world forward. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the scene, “Movers and Shakers” is your go-to source for staying ahead in the rapidly evolving iGaming landscape. 

 

At SGG Media, our focus has always been on staying ahead of the curve and providing the most cost-effective form of sports marketing in the iGaming industry.  We specialize in the micro-influencer space, believing this to be the key to unlocking a new generation of sports betting fans.

Of course, staying ahead of the curve is not as easy as it sounds. Part of this entails noticing the industry’s changes as they occur and being able to determine the difference between what will change the game and what is simply a passing trend.

One of our biggest focuses in recent years has been streaming and its emergence as an effective marketing tool in the sports and sports betting industries.

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With Gen Z, we are seeing a new generation of sports fans emerge as a commercial force. These fans are defined by their need for fresh experiences, authentic interactions, and a sense of community, all three of which can be provided by live streaming, both by sports and by sports micro-influencers and content creators.

The constant thirst for new experiences is extremely powerful, and we have seen this in action with the emergence of new sports like Power Slap and Pickleball in the last few years. However, unlike major players like the Premier League or the NFL, these sports do not have huge TV deals and do not pack out stadiums week in and week out.

Instead, their events are often live-streamed, and their fans congregate online. A new way of consuming sports is emerging alongside these sports: in-person attendance is being replaced by live streams, while micro-influencers and content creators are replacing punditry and analysis.

SGG Media can send live, real-time, links to the shows from thousands of sports influencers, and their millions of avid sports fan followers, during the actual events – greatly increasing awareness and viewership as they click the link provide in the social media post. Additionally, SGG Media can send social media real-time updates, notifying fans that events are about to start- and tell the fans what channels or platforms they can find the event on. Its easy for fans to lose track of when events are starting and where they can find the event. Social media – in real time – can solve this problem.

What these sports also rely on to succeed is a huge sense of community. Nothing brings people together quite like a shared interest in a niche sport, and live streams have become an excellent platform for nurturing these communities and allowing them to grow organically. The micro-influencers and content creators managing these streams essentially become hosts for giant online discussions and interactions.

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From a marketing perspective, this creates a huge opportunity for sports and sports betting businesses. Finding a way into these communities is often extremely difficult, which is where SGG Media can step in. Our network of over 2,200 micro-influencers can provide businesses with access to over 72 million sports fans, as well as countless online communities focused on individual sports and sports teams.

At SGG Media, we believe we can provide unparalleled access to online communities of sports fans at an extremely cost-effective price. Micro-influencers and live-streamers are the present and the future of digital sports marketing, and our network boasts unrivaled access to thousands of them.

Our goal has also been to make this accessible to as many small and medium-sized businesses as possible. Earlier this year, we launched our Instant Quote platform. This allows interested parties to enter information about their business and their marketing budget and to be provided with a quote for a marketing plan.

We believe the emergence of these niche sports and their online communities will only accelerate in the coming years, as will the effectiveness of live streaming as a marketing tool for reaching them.

For many years, online sports betting has been a solitary experience, but this is changing rapidly. Understanding the needs of a new generation and how to effectively market to them is essential for any sports betting business that wants to succeed.

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Authenticity is also a key issue we seek to address at SGG Media. For years, the sports marketing landscape has been dominated by endorsements from major celebrities and huge influencers. Both of these endorsements are extremely costly, further lifting the barrier to entry for small—to medium-sized businesses.

New sports fans, particularly Gen Z, have grown up in a world full of these adverts, and it’s fair to say cynicism is at an all-time high. These extremely expensive methods are not as effective as they once were.

This is where micro-influencers and live-streamers come into their own. They share their authentic experiences with their communities, providing an extremely effective and honest form of marketing. At SGG Media, we have observed that aligning brands with micro-influencers and streamers who have a mutual love for sports leads to meaningful connections with like-minded audiences. This strategy allows businesses to engage with individuals who share their values and are genuinely interested in their offerings.

The significance of this is especially relevant with niche sports, as sports betting operators may find it challenging to promote such sports through traditional marketing methods. These sports often have unique requirements and attract specific interests. Therefore, having the ability to directly connect with these niche sports communities holds immense value from a marketing standpoint.

SGG Media has always been about changing the game, and we believe that micro-influencer marketing, live streams, and the emergence of new sports are doing exactly that. We strive to be at the forefront of this change and want to ensure that our clients and partners are with us every step of the journey.

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