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Dasha Kirilishina, senior sales manager at , said that while adding esports games to existing sportsbooks is not without its challenges, given the huge potential of vertical services, operators should integrate their products now to stay ahead of the game.

Over the next 12 months, esports betting will emerge as an important betting category in its own right, and savvy operators will want to add esports betting products to ensure they are in the driver’s seat to reap the benefits of this high-growth vertical market.

However, integrating an esports betting product into an existing betting platform is not without its challenges, and operators need to take a thoughtful approach to getting it right and providing the quality experience that esports bettors expect.

Start by having an in-depth understanding of their betting platform and how compatible it is with the third-party esports suppliers serving the market. When it comes to esports betting, operators will want to work with providers of expertise, data, and odds.

Integration of esports betting products

If the operator is well established on its own platform, the technical team should have the understanding and experience to easily integrate new partners.

However, if operators are using white-label sportsbook platforms, they will need to ask suppliers how easy it is to add an esports provider to their tech stack. You also need to be flexible within your supplier’s roadmap.

This is because shifting priorities and having flexibility not only puts operators at the forefront of the game, but also helps them stay ahead of their competitors.

Operators should also not underestimate the resources required to successfully integrate their esports betting products. In fact, the most common problems arise when a customer has a small technical team or a team that spans multiple projects at the same time.

The best way to complete the integration of your esports betting product is to focus your resources solely on it. That way, you can avoid delays before you go live. In my experience, this is usually a problem for operators who have their own in-house platform.

Of course, people using third-party platforms have their own problems, and the most common here is their reliance on the partner’s roadmap and their willingness to prioritize these types of projects.

In some cases, there may be significant delays before the platform provider works on other projects and completes them.

Legacy Tech

Businesses that own their own platforms and those that use white label are also plagued by legacy tech. Integrating a modern product like esports betting into an older, more proven platform can be incredibly challenging.

We’ve never been unable to complete an integration, and the driving force behind the successful integration was an experienced team on both sides (the operator and PandaScore).

Experience can also help you know how many people to allocate to the integration and how long it is likely to take to complete.

Integration teams working on multiple projects need to plan how to use their time effectively to avoid unnecessary delays before launch. Having someone lead the process is the most effective way to ensure integration within a timescale set.

Not only that, but it also ensures that the integration is in line with the regulations and requirements of the market that the operator is targeting. It is important to emphasize that 95% of the technical work performed by operators is related to compliance in existing and new markets.

Esports is no different from traditional sports in that different games are popular in different markets, and as such, we have gone to great lengths to ensure that our products, markets, and odds are exciting and engaged at a regional level.

Factors to consider when integrating an esports product

Other factors that operators need to consider when integrating esports products are age verification and exclusion of esports players. For example, in countries like Italy, it is limited to competitions where bets can be placed according to the age of the players.

In fact, we recognize that age verification and player exclusion are important features that all customers should have access to. You have all player age data at your fingertips to ensure compliance with the requirements of each target market.

Successful integration of esports products is not without its challenges, but given the enormous potential offered by this industry, operators now need to work with specialist esports providers to ensure they are ahead of the competition.

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