Abelson Sports’ third-party partner network is uniquely positioned to help operators target the next generation of bettors with fast, diverse and socially shareable betting content. Jeevan Jeyaratnam, Chief Betting Officer, explores how this ecosystem enables sportsbooks to innovate faster and build products that feel native to the way younger audiences consume sport today.
G3: How is the behaviour of younger, social-native bettors fundamentally different from traditional sports punters and what does that mean for sportsbook strategy?
JJ: The single biggest factor for me is attention span, though to be honest this isn’t just a trait confined to younger generations. Older generations, of which I am part, have also witnessed a change to prefrontal cortex function, in particular, in regards to attention. The main culprit, of course, is the smart phone. Short-format events and ‘highlight’ reels have gained in popularity and operators have shown willingness to cater to fans of this style of content.
Cricket provides an interesting case study for examining the changes in human attention. Traditionally, cricket, even in its shortest one-day format, would be played over 100 overs per match. More recently, Twenty20 cricket, played over just 40 overs, and the 100 (just 100 balls per side) have taken over the game both in terms of popularity and commercial revenues. Test matches, traditionally a five-day affair, are finishing in record times, the 1st Test in the current Ashes series testament to changes in players’ attitude and attention, ending in just two days.
Micro-markets have gained a real foothold within the industry over the last few years, a fact that supports my theories of concentration and fulfilment. Micros are the most casino-like markets available on a sportsbook and are perfectly positions to benefit from changing behaviours.
G3: Why are micro-sports, alternative sports and high-frequency events becoming essential for attracting and retaining the next generation of bettors?
JJ: Mobile phones offer access to a plethora of entertainment, and allowing for the negatives, they also deliver, are here to stay. The younger generation know little of what came before and have come to demand that their media content hits the right note within the prefrontal cortex in order for them to retain focus. This has led to opportunity and transition within a sportsbook. In addition to micro-markets for traditional sports, there has been a shift towards providing new, varied sporting content to appease today’s younger crowd.
Social media and advances in streaming technology, tethered to low cost and speedy streaming data, allows content creators opportunity to launch their own channels has also opened doors for niche or new sports featuring sports-format events. One of our partners, Pro League Network, exemplifies the bold investment in the streamer generation. By inventing, producing, and distributing its own alternative sports, such as Carjitsu and Coffin Wars, it has carved out a distinctive niche. The addition of betting markets was a natural evolution, and with the imminent launch of a dedicated Amazon Prime channel, PLN now has a highly accessible platform to expand its consumer reach.
G3: How to third-party innovators help operators bridge the gap between fast-moving cultural trends and reliable, scalable betting products?
JJ: All of our third-party partners are innovators, striving to tap into the growing demand for alternative sports, or inventing new sports that they feel capture the zeitgeist. Operators cannot standstill, to avoid this they must add new content and features to help drive new users and prove they can resonate with the varying demands of all adult generations; Abelson’s third-party partners help operators to do exactly that.
Some of the sports available via Abelson’s feed feature short seasons, making it even harder to gain traction with operators. A possible solution to this arrives via another Abelson business interest, Virtually Sports. Virtually Sports is a virtuals supplier specialising in building highly innovative games for all types of sports, from Cricket roulette to Japanese Kyotei to Camel Racing. With the capability to model complex maths into RNG solutions, as well as being able to capture the visual movements and essence of a sport, Virtually Sports offers a chance to build out an on-demand shopping window for introducing bettors to niche sports at any time.
G3: How are micro-markets, player props and real-time predictive data redefining what engagement means inside a sportsbook?
JJ: A key metric for any sportsbook is how long a customer remains within the site or app per visit. Micros, props and real-time scoreboards or form updates all help retain the customers’ attention. The intention is to provide the punter with all the tools required to make an informed wager.
Live streaming on events also has a place here, but the evolution of the sports watcher means they are just as likely to catch up with a highlight reel or follow along via stats updates while simultaneously watching or playing something else. If the operator can also provide that secondary stimulus then the app becomes much more valuable.
G3: What role doe Abelson’s third party partner ecosystem play in enabling rapid experimentation and differentiation for operators who want to tap into social-first betting behaviour?
JJ: One of the main inhibitors to success for suppliers is operator prioritisation, or in their cases, the lack of it. It is unlikely that an operator will dedicate internal resource to integrating a standalone alternative or niche sport offering. Operators may still offer the product, but via manual upload of prices and settlement, which is far from ideal.
One of the valid concerns for any operator looking to offer niche sports content is integrity. All of the third-party partners available via Abelson’s feed have stringent integrity guardrails in place to ensure the sports they are pricing and settling are honest. An operator with an Abelson Football Player Markets integration can access any of our third-party partners’ feeds with minimal integration effort, allowing operators the change to take a ‘punt’ and experiment with different sports to see which of them resound with its customers.
