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With one of the biggest ever international sporting tournaments due this summer, it’s easy to overlook the fact that there’s also one in Russia this month.
he action continues at full speed into February with the Winter Olympics taking place from Sochi, Russia from the 7th. Unibet has always had an exceptionally strong Winter sports offering - and at time of writing we already had 279 Winter Olympic markets - 108 in Ice Hockey alone! With BBC coverage and a plethora of betting opportunities we are well placed to welcome winter sports enthusiasts to our site. But by far our biggest driver of turnover in the next month will be on football and racing. Although that sounds obvious - it’s actually a significant statement for Unibet. We now view our racing offering as strong enough to promote externally. We have offered a
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ACTION IMAGES / BRANDON MALONE
Agenda
Ante Post: What the bookies say
good service to our customers since near to the time of our UK launch (May 2013) but with both technical and consumer facing improvements we have, and will, promote our racing product far more aggressively than before. That’s both horse and greyhound racing. That means the run up to Cheltenham will be an exciting time for us this season with ante post odds, promotional offers and marketing partnerships abound. The RBS Six Nations kicks off on Saturday 1 February and our armchair expert Gavin Hasting will hit the TV screens in a number of TV adverts. Wales go into the tournament as clear favourites to retain their crown and face what looks, on paper at least, an easy opener against Italy. Switching codes to
Rugby League the Super to come up with an attracLeague also kicks off with tive offer. The big sporting event the first action on 7 Feb. of the month is the Winter ED NICHOLSON Olympics and it is no surHead of UK product prise that there is a big Unibet interest in the Curling where both the men and The Champions League women are represented makes a welcome return by Scottish teams. Both and although Celtic failed have a chance of winning to make the knock out a gold medal so there is stages it shouldn’t have great PR opportunities an impact on turnover or whilst it should also be interest - especially when good from a turnover you have ties like Man point of view. Whether City v Barcelona. Domes- the rest of the Olympics tically, we have the semi- will be as popular finals of the League Cup. remains to be seen but we Celtic have been knocked will be offering markets out of that competition on a number of the sports as well but this time it so hopefully it will be a actually means there is success. even more interest as it gives another team a PAUL PETRIE chance to win a trophy. Director These are the games that McBookie.com give us a good chance to stand out from the crowd, February is certainly the so the marketing team calm before the storm for will be working overtime us at Star HQ. Chel-
tenham dominates the first quarter in terms of ante-post action. However, February does throw up some fantastic sport and great punting opportunities. The Betfair Hurdle will be a nervy afternoon with plenty of money coming for Rolling Star at 16/1. Nicky Henderson’s charge is now 10/1 third favourite. The Champions League returns with Man City hitting form and at 14/1 they certainly would be the one the trading team fear most. Finally, the Six Nations is always something I look forward to and with mounting injury problems we are keen to lay Wales and accordingly are top industry price at 9/4. LUKE TARR Head of Public Relations Star Sports
Football conference to look beyond World Cup ith the World Cup on the horizon, it would be easy to forget the staple diet of domestic football that has been feeding the growth in sports betting over the past ten years. The new Betting on Football Conference from SBC Events aims to help bookmakers plan for life beyond the World Cup and work on methods to retain the new customers they get from the Brazilian tournament as the 2014/15 season kicks off. Among the topics that are being covered are: • Football Association - shirt sponsorship, regional partner or former players: What’s the
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best way to promote your footchances of success? customers and not just people ball product to the masses? • Match analysis - using data for you see every other summer.” Free kick - has the sign up trading and customer retenSBC Events is also launching bonus had its day? What other tion the Betting on Football Awards to approaches can bookmakers • SBC Events is part of the Sports coincide with the conference, use? Betting Community, which has with the organiser promising Penalty Spot - how to protect just appointed Andrew McCar- something unique to the rather your business from the threat ron as managing director. He staid world of award ceremonies. of sporting corruption. commented: “Football has McCarron declared: “The Social Scene - can social been a key driver for the betting Germans have always been betting and social media be industry since the turn of the excellent at football, so we plan used to recruit new players century and there is constant to pay homage to them as we more efficiently? innovation as bookmakers try recognise excellence in football Early bath - how can operators and tap into the popularity of betting.” make the most of the current the sport. Betting on Football trend for Cash In products? is there to help distil some of Betting on Football Last Minute Winners - what can the most effective ways of 8 May bookmakers do before the attracting football fans and Stamford Bridge World Cup to improve their making them long term betting London
68 BettingBusinessInteractive • FEBRUARY 2014
LISTINGS MONTHLY BRIEFING
FEBRUARY 3 7th International Gaming Awards (IGA), Savoy Hotel 3 The 6th International Casino Conference, ExCeL 4-6 ICE 2014, ExCeL London 4 World Regulatory Briefing, ExCeL 4 CRM, Loyalty & Retention Conference, ExCeL 4 Mobile Gaming, ExCeL 4 SBC’s London Baby, The Folly, nr London Bridge 5 Cybercrime, Security & Regulatory Compliance in Gaming, ExCeL 5 Monetising Social Gaming, ExCeL 5 Game Design & Development, ExCeL 5 Next Generation Lotteries, ExCeL 5 Fire & Ice by Lyceum Media, Troxy 7-10 The London Affiliate Conference (LAC) 2014, Earls Court Exhibition Centre 7 IGB Affiliate Awards Night, Lancaster London MARCH 4-6 iGaming Asia Congress 2014, Macao 4-5 Irish Gaming Show, Dublin 19-21 iGaming North America 2014, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas 31 – 1 April Social Media Marketing Conference, The Brewery APRIL 1 BiG Sports Dinner, The Dorchester 8-9 Igaming Forum, Grand Hotel, Stockholm 24-25 The Next Web Conference Europe, Amsterdam MAY 8 Betting on Football Conference, Stamford Bridge 8 Betting on Football Awards, Fulham 14-16 Japan Gaming Congress, Tokyo 15 mGaming Summit 2014, Dexter House, London 20-22 G2E Asia, The Venetian, Macao JUNE 4-5 Russian Gaming Week, Sokolniki, Moscow 22-25 Sports Betting Seminar, Blue Tree Premium Fortaleza, Brazil 23-25, Canadian Gaming Summit, Vancouver Convention Centre 24-27 Igaming SuperShow, Amsterdam RAI JULY 14-16 GiGse 2014, Hyatt Regency, San Francisco 14-16 Social Casino Summit at GiGse 2014, Hyatt Regency, San Francisco SEPTEMBER 9 - 12 10th European Conference on Gambling Studies and Policy Issues, Hilton Kalastajatorppa, Helsinki THE LONDON AFFILIATE CONFERENCE IS AT EARLS COURT THIS MONTH