Kambi’s Senior Sales Director, David Bretnitz, sits down with Indian Gaming Magazine to discuss sports betting as an economic opportunity for Indian Country
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Kambi is one of the early winners in the US sports betting market, but the B2B sportsbook provider isn’t going to rest on its laurels. It has a lot of unfinished business to tend to in the US.
Kambi has partnered with some of the biggest names in US gambling (DraftKings, Rush Street, and Penn National) and been a first-mover in virtually every key sports betting state, from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to Indiana.
Betting USA had the opportunity to speak with Erik Lögdberg, Kambi’s Deputy CEO and Chief Business Development Officer, at G2E. Lögdberg offered up his thoughts on the US market, the company’s successes, and what Kambi has in store for the future.
Kambi Is Prepared to Keep On Keeping On
According to Lögdberg, Kambi’s strategy for the future is pretty straightforward. The company wants to keep the momentum going and build on the strong foundation it’s created.
“We’re preparing to be live in 10 to 15 states before the end of 2020,” Lögdberg told Betting USA. “We’re working hard to sign new partners, and from a business perspective, there will be a lot of focus on local market access.”
The US Bettor Is (Not Surprisingly) Different
According to Lögdberg, there’s a noticeable difference in the US customer profile compared to European bettors.
That dynamic has been a difficult adjustment for some companies that thought they could airdrop their successful European products and marketing strategies into US markets. But it didn’t catch Kambi by surprise.
“I think it was expected,” Lögdberg said, adding that a key difference is that US betting is centralized around the major sports, whereas in Europe, a larger percentage of handle comes from the full library of sports and leagues.
“In Europe you have the local leagues, but there’s also interest in other sports and leagues,” said Lögdberg. “So far, in the US betting is very focused on the Big Six.”
Lögdberg expects that to change over time, noting that it’s a natural evolution of bettors.
At the same time, popular US sports present interesting opportunities that aren’t present in European markets.
On In-Play Betting Opportunities in US Sports
Lögdberg pointed to at-bat betting in Major League Baseball as a prime example of a wager type that could be a game-changer for sports betting in the US.
“One of our absolute strongest products over the years has been the point in-game in tennis,” Lögdberg said. “It’s quite similar to what you can do with the at-bat type of bet offers, or the result of next shot bets in golf.”
Lögdberg believes that because of the slow pace of play and pauses in the game, a US sports bettor watching a baseball game could be wagering a small amount on every at-bat or inning, instead of placing a single $50 or $100 wager on the outcome of the game.
“It might take one or two years, and it won’t be for everyone, but that’s what I expect will happen,” Lögdberg said.
Is the US Ready for Sophisticated Betting Products?
US companies have been taking a conservative approach to product offerings like at-bat wagering, seemingly keeping some of the more complex and sophisticated products available in Europe on the shelf – at least for the time being.
But those products are coming, and Kambi had a couple of interesting ones on display at G2E.
BetBuilder
Kambi’s Bet Builder product is already up and running for the five main sports – Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, and Soccer – in some US markets.
Kambi describes its Bet Builder as, “Empowering bettors to combine several in-event combinations, and other bets, on the betslip.”
Lögdberg said Kambi’s Bet Builder product possesses unique combinability, which allows users to combine in-event wagers with other bets in different games or even sports.
“We call it in-event combinations,” Lögdberg said. “We think about it as just erasing all limitations for the player.”
That level of customization is unique to Kambi, and something the company had to think long and hard about.
“Two years ago, when bet builders started happening in Europe, it was a big decision,” said Lögdberg. “We could take a short-term view and integrate a third-party [with fewer features and customization], but we always knew we wanted to build this ourselves. Players are going to want to cashout, and we want to risk manage this effectively, so we decided to do it in-house and do it properly.”
Teaser+: A Product for the Experienced Bettor
Another product Kambi was touting at G2E is a betting option called Teaser+.
Teaser+ provides real-time teaser lines at different point spreads. Most of the time, but not always, that provides bettors with a better line than they would receive from traditional teaser bets.
Essentially, it means Kambi doesn’t use the teaser odds cards used by other books, and instead provides the true value of the teaser parlay, ensuring the bettor gets the true live price for their picks.
According to Kambi, the benefits of Teaser+ are as follows:
- On average, higher odds than the standard Teaser
- Teaser lines offered are 6, 6.5 or 7 points
- Available pre-match on main point spread and total point lines
- For parlays containing between two and eight selections
- The Teaser+ option will automatically appear in the betslip when available
- Teaser+ also available for NCAAF (College Football) and NBA
First published by BettingUSA
