{"id":501,"date":"2020-06-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbc.ng\/when-sport-returns-treating-the-corona-crisis-as-industry-wake-up-call\/"},"modified":"2020-06-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T00:00:00","slug":"when-sport-returns-treating-the-corona-crisis-as-industry-wake-up-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbc.ng\/index.php\/when-sport-returns-treating-the-corona-crisis-as-industry-wake-up-call\/","title":{"rendered":"WHEN SPORT RETURNS: TREATING THE CORONA CRISIS AS INDUSTRY WAKE-UP CALL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bill Pascrell, III<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a guest contribution by Bill Pascrell, III of A GAME ABOVE.com. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact\u00a0\u00a0for submission details. Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n

Green shoots<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The past several months have been challenging to all of us. The way we work, school our children, take care of the elderly and socialize have changed dramatically. This global pandemic crisis is unlike anything the betting and gaming business, has ever witnessed before. Certainly, there were snapshot precursors \u2013 individual, cancelled matches and the UK\u2019s 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis \u2013 to what we are going through today but, nothing like the wholesale loss of\u00a0nearly all professional\u00a0sport<\/em>\u00a0for such an enduring term.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, it appears the curve is flattening, the\u00a0pandemic\u00a0peaks are settling and\u00a0the relaxation of\u00a0quarantine conditions in many territories\u00a0is\u00a0permitting the\u00a0green shoots\u00a0of\u00a0a late Spring for the return of elite sport:<\/p>\n

-Baseball: Korea and Taiwan are playing in empty stadiums but live streaming to ESPN in the USA<\/p>\n

-Soccer:\u00a0Bundesliga in Germany is playing, the English Premier League recommences on June 17\u00a0and many other EU countries are discussing plans\u00a0to resume\u00a0matches \u201cbehind closed doors\u201d<\/p>\n

-Rugby: Australia\u2019s National Rugby League resumed play on May 28<\/p>\n

Soccer aside, this hardly represents the \u201csaving\u201d of global sports betting, particularly since many markets are so focused upon both international and local contests and leagues to entertain and engage audiences, but, at least we are seeing some indication of a return to the sports and schedules that the audience know and love. Even MLB and the NFL are scheduled to return for training soon.<\/p>\n

Business as Usual?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

COVID-19 has become an era-defining moment for\u00a0our\u00a0society. Our response to it\u00a0so far, as an industry, has been to pivot to other product, such as eSports;\u00a0virtuals\u00a0\u2013 Inspired Gaming have run two hugely successful virtual horse racing \u201cevents\u201d with the\u00a0Virtual Grand National<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Kentucky Derby<\/em>; and, adapted sports, with FSB Tech creating and launching the entertaining and engaging\u00a0Remote Darts League<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The return of sports is still, obviously, very early stage and any resumption may well be subject to further, later in the year change and cancellation as we accustom to a virus about which we still have much to learn, but are acutely aware of\u00a0its\u00a0potential for a \u201csecond wave\u201d to be even more unkind.<\/p>\n

The same can be said for its impact upon sports betting should a second wave of the virus decimate seasonal calendars in the fall and winter.<\/p>\n

Over the last months, did we really \u201creplace\u201d the sports betting calendar to any revenue-reliable extent with product-only pivots, on behalf of our existing audience? Did we, convincingly, surprise and delight the audience, and regulators, government and other stakeholders, with a proactive, media-friendly dialogue across attracting players to a hobby of casino, poker and slots play? Did we propose methods to make our business more sustainable and focused upon fair play, at a time of widespread stake caps calls, and acknowledge player protection as an already accepted, but yet to be embedded, part of the player experience we seek to give our customers, overall?<\/p>\n

The answer to all of these questions is, sadly, negative. At this point, that is. We should accept that we are under siege \u2013 and already\u00a0were,\u00a0before\u00a0the corona crisis\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but\u00a0acknowledge that\u00a0we are a creative, innovative industry\u00a0that\u00a0can and must engage, convincingly, across all of the critical missions in the questions above. Betting and gaming is a business I have\u00a0spent many years of my career in\u00a0\u2013 it is a business I love, especially when we collectively answer the challenge of needing to adapt, as we have so often in the past, and need to now, if we are to persist and progress, positively, past\u00a0this\u00a0pandemic.<\/p>\n

Betting & Gaming: The Core Challenges, Today<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Eilers\u00a0&\u00a0Krejcik\u00a0Gaming, wrote in a recent report (Euro 2025 Outlook), about 6 factors creating a gathering storm for\u00a0betting\u00a0and\u00a0gaming:<\/p>\n

All of these challenges, combined with\u00a0an uncertain and potentially unavailable\u00a0sports calendar,\u00a0may be telling\u00a0our industry\u00a0one thing:<\/p>\n

We need to adapt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When sport does reliably return, do we then simply go back to\u00a0a reactive, business as usual approach? The one that\u00a0already led us to the 6 challenges above, prior to the pandemic, and the character of being an\u00a0industry, according to many stakeholders and commentators,\u00a0in\u00a0a clear \u201cnegative phase\u201d.<\/p>\n

Going back to the same old habits, offers, actions and expectations we create in and for our audience \u2013 both playing and non-playing \u2013 is surely no kind of an acceptable response from an industry that has challenge and adaptation in its DNA. Over our history, we have met challenge with creativity, delighted our players, and succeeded commercially. I would hope for, and expect, the same of us during this current crisis.<\/p>\n

The Player Experience<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

In betting and gaming, we should always remember that regardless of the current challenges we face, we have one fundamental challenge that defines our business like no other:<\/p>\n

Our Products.<\/p>\n

As they are all the same, to the vast majority of the audience.<\/p>\n

Some might characterise this \u201ca problem\u201d for an industry, but it is not\u00a0one\u00a0for betting and gaming \u2013 a clear solution has existed, for years, and it is up to each of us how\u00a0we\u00a0interpret and effect that solution for our operations, across whichever channel, product and market.<\/p>\n

The solution?<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Lesson.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Las Vegas casino operators never sell gambling.\u00a0They welcome\u00a0the\u00a0audience to<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Lifestyle<\/em><\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Resort<\/em><\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Adult Playground \u2013 Sin City \u2013 What Happens in Vegas\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Lesson?<\/p>\n

Las Vegas does not gain and retain by\u00a0product alone. Las Vegas packages\u00a0the\u00a0product with\u00a0the\u00a0experience\u00a0to captivate its customers.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u00a0joined Steen Madsen\u00a0and his\u00a0team at\u00a0marketing experience agency,\u00a0A GAME ABOVE.com,\u00a0after\u00a0many years of\u00a0lobbying and advisory\u00a0work for\u00a0betting\u00a0and\u00a0gaming\u00a0brands, to address\u00a0The Las Vegas Lesson<\/em>, and the impact it deserves to create across our\u00a0online and brick and mortar distributed industry, today.<\/p>\n

The positive experiences I witnessed from\u00a0player events\u00a0A GAME ABOVE has been involved with \u2013\u00a0in terms of player response, retention, reactivation and, most significantly, revenue \u2013 across customer-focused events,\u00a0showed the need for a different kind of audience engagement: healthy, mission and achievement-focused customer behaviour, with loyalty built-in, throughout participation with the game above. It wasn\u2019t just about the transaction of gambling for these\u00a0players. It was about the status and achievement in completing a mission, qualifying for a\u00a0championship, or receiving a prize from an against the clock challenge.<\/p>\n

Stories that Celebrate Players<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0audience, and the\u00a0players we seek to help\u00a0brands gain and retain at A GAME ABOVE, come for reasons \u2013 \u201cstories\u201d we call them \u2013 not simply percentage-based commercial deals\u00a0and welcome offers, that are, typically,\u00a0generic and emotionless.<\/p>\n

If one thing is clear from the success of community engagement platforms like Barstool\u00a0and Monkey Knife Fight, it is that content with emotion, that fans and players can relate to and become enthralled by, are predominant.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0betting\u00a0and\u00a0gaming we need to move towards packaging\u00a0The Product<\/em>\u00a0with\u00a0The Experience<\/em>, and seek new ways to turn the page\u00a0upon\u00a0gaining, celebrating and retaining \u201cplayers\u201d, and not just \u201cgamblers\u201d.<\/p>\n

At A GAME ABOVE, we\u2019re committed to delivering a narrative of inspiring, entertaining and captivating\u00a0stories for\u00a0players, on behalf of\u00a0brands, and alongside their\u00a0marketing,\u00a0social\u00a0media and\u00a0player\u00a0relations\u00a0teams \u2013 because we, as an\u00a0industry, need to adapt to captivate and celebrate\u00a0the\u00a0audience, bigger and more receptive now, in this time of challenge and quarantine, than they have been at any point in our history.\u00a0We welcome the opportunity to help operators, providers and content partners make player promotions a part of their marketing mix, to help meet, greet, gain and retain this audience.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0betting\u00a0and\u00a0gaming today, and for the future, it\u2019s time to create stories that celebrate\u00a0players and create\u00a0community. We have the\u00a0products to do it. We need\u00a0the\u00a0experience to\u00a0be allied to\u00a0them, and shift our focus from solely new customer-obsessed, to becoming player and audience-obsessed across all stages of the lifecycle,\u00a0for\u00a0an industry that thinks, acts and is seen\u00a0to be\u00a0sustainable,\u00a0responsible\u00a0and fun.<\/p>\n

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