How Online Changed Players Habits in Balkan

Online Betting is a thriving industry and the pandemic period pushed everything forward.

• As the punters and operators discovered the full potential of the online channel, it was time to grow and align with the land-based offering.

• NSoft's Sportsbook was fine-tuned, considering bookmakers' needs and players' preferences.

• The Balkan region has its own pace of growth in sports betting.

Until a few years back, a certain stigma was related to gambling. Technology advancements, the popularity of sports in the mainstream media, sports-centric cultures, and quickly improved internet infrastructure presented new opportunities for remote gaming worldwide.

NSoft’s long-term experience as global sports betting and gaming supplier has positioned the company as one of the leading software solutions providers for the betting industry. Since the retail channel was our biggest strength, this has also proven to be NSoft’s most valuable asset for entering new and regulated markets worldwide.

Then there was a significant switch. Sports betting has become a favorite pastime for many people. As the punters and operators discovered the full potential of the online channel, the signal was sent to software providers. It was time to grow and change.

Tech is the main driver behind online sports betting growth

The highly optimistic predictions for the growth of this industry are endless. Research firm Fair Market Insights (FMI) report indicated that the global sports betting market will grow 10.3% between 2022 and 2032. The company predicts the market to be worth $84.66 billion in 2022. That number will jump by nearly 300% in the next ten years.

“Due to the growing need for digitalization and penetration of connected devices, the sports betting market will witness significant growth in the forecast period,” analysis firm Fact.MR wrote about the results. “Overall demand for sports betting is poised to increase at a CAGR of 10.3% between 2022 and 2032, totaling around $ 225.65 billion by 2032.”

The tech was the main driver behind evolving our product offering. NSoft had a strong, over a decade-long, foothold in retail, but switching to the online channel was the natural next step.

We aimed and needed to develop further to retain customers and offer them the same quality on all channels. It was time to change. The flexibility of our product offering and speed to market became a massive selling point for future customers. The NSoft’s primary focus was to ensure an omnichannel experience for our partners and that our solutions are tailored to their needs.

One Sportsbook solution with unlimited customisation opportunities on all channels

Genuine innovation calls for an exciting product that can cut through a stagnant market and meet customer needs in new ways. At its heart, innovation allows businesses to stay relevant and drive growth. NSoft achieved this with Seven Sportsbook Platform. 

A fully flexible, scalable, and secure platform, providing operators with everything they need to launch a successful iGaming business.

As every channel has its specifics, our high-performing Sportsbook solution needed some fine-tuning to reach its maximum potential for every delivery channel.

We have made our Sportsbook considering bookmakers' needs and players' preferences.

On the other hand, the Sportsbook Self-Managed application is a powerful software tool for bookmakers that enables full flexibility, odds, risk management autonomy, and better market positioning through different delivery channels.

For players, it drives engagement and brings sports betting excitement, covering a wide range of global premium content and locally relevant events. MTS Sportsbook provides Pre-Match and Live Betting  solutions with odds from the industry’s leading trading service providers.

Let's look at the numbers and see how the relationship between retail shops and online channels has developed in the Balkan region.

Live Betting is thriving, but the Balkan has its own rules

With the popularization of online betting, Live Betting reached its highest level.

Almost every punter shall say that Live betting is much more interesting and engaging; more importantly, it allows instant money too.

For reference and to further understand the complex relationship between retail and online channels, we have gathered info about one of NSoft's representative clients from the Balkans. This region is still one of our strongholds. The statistics are from the online distribution channel.

- the gender structure of the online channel: 16% women vs. 84% men.

- the age structure of the online channel: 67% are players under 35.

- the quarterly channel stake distribution for all products shows retail still standing strong looking at the overall game + Sportsbook portfolio, while looking only at Sportsbook, the numbers are very different.

- the quarterly channel stake distribution for Sportsbook shows the rise of the online channel during the COVID-19 pandemic period: from 32% in Q1 to 55% in Q2 2020. The recent numbers indicate an equal ratio of 50% vs. 50%.

- the quarterly channel stake distribution for Live Betting shows the growing numbers of the online channel during the COVID-19 pandemic period: from 33% in Q1 to 60% in Q2 2020. The recent numbers indicate an equal ratio of online vs. retail channels: 49% vs. 51% in Q4.

As we mentioned earlier, online betting is growing rapidly globally and dominating the market. Online betting is more convenient. It’s also much easier to keep track of your bets in your online account or app rather than keep hold of lots of bet slips you end up losing.

The Balkan region has always had its own identity, with some specificities that greatly influenced its development. Therefore, according to the results mentioned above from NSoft's representative client from the Balkans, we can conclude that the Balkans has its own rules and growth trends. 

Although traditional bet shops are a popular meeting point and have been in the heart of punters from the Balkan, the references and stats show that online betting has steady growth, and more is yet to come.