Integrar productos de esports

Dasha Kirilishina, Sales Director at PandaScore, says that adding esports to an existing bookmaker is difficult, but given the huge potential offered by esports, operators should integrate products to stay ahead of events

In the next 12 months, esports will become a major betting category in its own right and savvy operators will want to add sports betting products to ensure they are ahead of the curve to capitalize on the growing sector.

But integrating sports betting products into existing platforms has difficulties and operators will need to take a thoughtful approach if they want to get it right and deliver the quality experience that sports bettors expect.

The process begins with thorough documentation of the betting platform and its compatibility with the third-party sports providers serving the market. When it comes to sports betting, operators will want to work with providers who specialize in technology, data, and odds.

Integrate esports betting successfully

If an operator is reasonably well established with its own platform, the technical team should have the necessary knowledge and experience to be able to easily integrate new partners.

However, if the operator uses a white-label sports betting platform, you’ll need to check with the provider how easily the esports provider can be added to the tech stack. You’ll also need to make sure of the flexibility of the vendor’s roadmap.

This is because priorities change and having flexibility will ensure that the operator stays ahead of the competition.

Operators should also not underestimate the resources required to successfully integrate sports betting products. In fact, the most common problems arise when customers have small technical teams or teams working on multiple projects at the same time.

The best way to complete the integration of sports betting products is to focus resources on just that, as this will avoid delays in the start-up. In my experience, this is usually a problem with operators who have their own in-house platforms.

Of course, those who use third-party platforms have their own problems and the most common is the reliance on partner roadmaps and a willingness to prioritize these types of projects.

In some cases, this can lead to crucial delays while the platform provider works and completes other projects.

Legacy Technology

Legacy technology also causes headaches for operators who own their own platforms and those who sell them as white labels. Integrating modern products such as sports betting on old and proven platforms can be an incredible challenge.

This is not to say that it can’t be done, integrating them is always possible, and having experienced teams on both sides (operator and PandaScore) is usually the reason for a successful integration.

Experience also helps when it comes to knowing how many people to assign to the integration and how long it will take to complete.

Integration teams working on multiple projects should plan how to use their time effectively to avoid any unnecessary delays before launch. Having someone lead the process is absolutely the most effective way to ensure that the integration is done within the set timeframe.

Not only that, but it will ensure that the integration is executed in accordance with the regulations and requirements of the market the operator is targeting. Importantly, 95% of the technical work carried out by operators is focused on regulatory compliance in existing and new markets.

Esports is no different from traditional sports in that different games are popular in different markets and that’s why we’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that our suite of products, markets and odds excites and engages players locally.

Facts to consider when integrating esports products

Other factors that operators should consider when integrating esports products include age verification and exclusion of esports players. For example, in countries such as Italy, operators have limited competitions in which they can accept bets based on the age of the players participating.

In fact, verifying age and excluding players is something we have identified as a key feature that should be accessible to all our customers: our customers have all the age data of players at their fingertips and can meet the requirements in each of the markets they are targeting.

Successfully integrating esports products is not without its challenges, but given the tremendous potential the industry offers, operators should work with specialist esports providers now to ensure they are ahead of the curve.

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