Opening new doors in data, sportsbetting and online casino, Betconstruct CEO Vahe Baloulian explains the thinking behind this year’s show-stopping stand at ICE and how the firm is continuing to innovate on behalf of its partners.
Ahead of this year’s show you organised a seminar called H20 Data with SBC. Why ‘H20’? And what were the major themes that were covered?
For any sports betting operation sports data is as vital as water – or H20 – hence the name for the seminar we co-produced with SBC. We showed how sports data is collected, processed and used in combination with quality streaming and stringent risk management and fraud prevention. However, the most important point stressed by the BetConstruct executive chairman Vigen Badalyan was that sports data is too vital to be controlled by one or two companies. It’s a commodity that should be protected from the perils of consolidation and monopolisation, which make everything more expensive for everyone and leave all to the whims of a few.
Moving to the show, you made a splash as usual with your colourful stand and fresh fruit. What was the thinking behind this and what reception did you get from attendees?
We don’t do anything just for the sake of doing it. After having the most talked-about concept of the ICE 2016, which affirmed the spirit of freedom to succeed, we introduced The Door. The constantly transforming stand, which was empty when the expo opened, then started to slowly being filled up with thousands of flowers, and then with thousands of free-for-all fruits and, finally, by the entrance of BetConstruct Angels of Life, the beautiful whiteclad young ladies, who delivered thousands of “Olive Branch” charms to the ICE attendees, symbolised the evolution, constant change, durability and vitality of what we do. During the three days of the expo, our colleagues in BetConstruct offices throughout the world continued to work, our technology continued to evolve, the code was changing, and what we were selling was going to be improved the very next day – this is what the fluidity of our stand was expressing. We are not just marking time and what we do is as fresh, as beautiful and as colourful as the flowers and fruits you could find on our stand.
Let’s talk about the new ‘Door’ concept – the Door to Success. It’s a powerful motif, but how does it relate to Bet- Construct’s brand, and your plans to grow in 2017?
Yes, The Door. It’s very simple in its complexity. Here is what we said with The Door – regardless of the size of your business, your standing in the market, your socalled “tier” level, etc. – walking through The Door will open-up another world of opportunities for you. There is only one Door and behind it you will find everything you need to start or to expand your gaming business – all in one place. All the tools, services, products, expertise and friendly people of BetConstruct – all behind The Door. Here, along with the very powerful and smart sportsbook and data feed products, you will find one of the largest portfolios of casino, virtual sport and skill games, Live Dealer casinos, fast growing poker and fantasy sports networks, social gaming platform, and much-much more.
Can you confirm details of any of the new supply deals you arranged at ICE?
So far, we’ve announced details of a few deals we secured at the show. Among them were the agreements to supply our sportsbook technology and services to BBIN, the Asian iGaming software giant, and to Partouche Group, one of the largest gaming and hospitality companies in Europe.
Finally, what doors will you be opening for your partners over the coming months?
The Door is one, but opportunities are many. Our Live Dealer Casino moved to a new state-of-the-art studio, allowing us to provide bigger variety of tables to our partners. We launched forward-looking Virtual and Augmented Reality projects. The vastly expanded Data Feed Solutions will greatly benefit our sportsbook licensees. With SlotBuilder our casino partners can now create their bespoke slots in addition to over 3000 games we provide from our own studios and over 60 other suppliers. And I can go on and on.
