As gambling has taken root with media in the past few years, gaming, casual gaming and engagement companies continue to become even more influential in the ecosystem. At the crux of that engagement are a handful of companies including FanHub, which has Australian roots but now has ramped up its activity in the past two years in North America, building casual gaming experiences and partnerships for everyone from MLB and the NFL to Australian Rules Football and the ATP. Where is the free-to-play market going from a business side? We asked Head of Business Development, Americas, Phil de Winter to loop us in.
de Winter on FanHub: Our ability to deliver premium products at affordable prices has been key, as has our constant passion for great service. However, our constant drive to deliver high value commercial outcomes for our partners, whether that’s sponsorship revenue, data acquisition or increased fan engagement has been paramount. More and more, the key outcome partners are looking for is providing value for partnerships with sportsbooks. Having extensive experience in achieving this in international markets where sports betting has been legal for decades, this has been really helpful in the US market.
On the value of casual gaming: There have been countless studies that find that fans who play free to play games over index in almost all areas whether that’s buying tickets, watching broadcasts, consuming content, purchasing merchandise or spending time with partners – the list goes on. We have been using casual games in Europe and Australia to funnel fans to gaming partners since our inception. Take Buffalo Wild Wings and MGM for example. They are changing the sports bar experience. The free to play game we have built is just one way they entertain fans in store, making Buffalo Wild Wings much more than a restaurant – they’re an industry leader in entertaining customers on site. I believe the MGM and Buffalo Wild Wings partnership is one of enormous potential and is going to be one to keep a close eye on.
On Free-to-Play Gaming: While we have dabbled in paid to play games, the real core of our business is free to play. Our partners understand the value of the data our products generate. Once they learn more about their fans, they can use that data in powerful ways to drive high value commercial outcomes. It’s important to note growth won’t only be driven by betting related opportunities, but a continued focus on the value of user data – for example, our clients are using products to drive subscriptions to OTT products, sell tickets and in general expand their database with intelligent information.
Who does the space best? For a long time, it was our friends at the NBA leading the way. They were first to market in a lot of initiatives. However, you are starting to see other leagues catch up, like the NFL and MLB. All the major leagues now have partnerships and some of them have multiple. This is a trend that will continue for quite some time.
On who does the space best: For a long time, it was our friends at the NBA leading the way. They were first to market in a lot of initiatives. However, you are starting to see other leagues catch up, like the NFL and MLB. All the major leagues now have partnerships and some of them have multiple. This is a trend that will continue for quite some time.
