BetGames CEO interview: Bringing T-Kick to Europe

BetGames has certainly been making waves in the last few months with the launch of its revolutionary live sport vertical, Twain Sport.

Speaking with BetGames’ CEO, Andreas Koeberl, we sat down to talk all things live action, as well how Twain Sport’s big bet on engaging the Tik Tok betting generation with the latest in short-form, high turnover betting action is already proving a success.

Congratulations on the launch of T-Kick! Given football is the world’s most universal sport, how big are your global plans for this unique hybrid version of live football?

AK: Thanks a lot. I’m incredibly proud of the team for making it happen right before ICE, which provided the perfect stage to showcase our revolutionary product to the global iGaming industry. Our ambitions to be the best are high, and they have to be, as football is the biggest sport in the world – no matter if you look at as a sports fan or punter.

So, the answer is quite simple: we want to push T-Kick out into all continents starting with our home markets in South Africa and Europe, where we’re already one of the best in live entertainment. The great thing is that all operators who are already live with T-Basket can just switch T-Kick on without any effort, which gives our tier-one partners an excellent springboard into instant success.

Going into this hybrid adaptation of live football betting – can you talk us through how it works and how T-Kick is positioned to benefit your big-brand operator partners?

AK: In general, we position T-Kick as a complementary product to tier-one sports, which provides additional engagement and revenue, rather than cannibalising sportsbook. For us, it’s all about being complementary to sporting fixtures, and with more than 10,000 T-Kick and T-Basket matches a month already, we offer operators a perfect product for both off-peak hours and in-between major sports matches.

To complement sportsbook, this means a full head-to-head tournament every single hour. This gives our operator partners a sticky product that is also the exact short-form, live action that players want – before, after, or during a Champions League match … or even at half time! Not only that, now that we have two sports – T-Basket and T-Kick, players get 30 super quick matches with immediate settlement each hour. This idea to offer complementary unique content is in our DNA at BetGames since the company’s inception, and we’re sure that with the next stage in our evolution, we’ve got aperfect product.

Does BetGames and Twain Sport believe that short-form, live action is the future of live betting and how does this fit for the new generation of players?

AK: The question on how to engage Gen Z is probably the headache for every operator and supplier in the industry. I think there is no recipe or right answer. What we do know, is that we have to think differently and try out whole new ways of engagement involving different channels and forms of entertainment. Thinking that one specific product can fix the aforementioned headache is probably naïve here. When it comes to TWAIN SPORT, we see that the average age of our players is around 25 years old, and given the nature of the product, being action packed and quick, we seem to be appealing to new generations with a ‘Tik-Tok’ style demand for short-form content. Furthermore, the ease and understanding of our product means that we can cater to newer, casual players.

Our European Gaming readers all know about the value of retail across the likes of Belgium, Austria and Germany, can T-Kick work in betting shops just as well as it does online? 

AK: That’s a great question. So far, we are live only in the digital world with around 40 brands – although certainly got some exciting plans for retail coming up.

When it comes to the mechanics of the product, given that T-Kick offers a full football tournament every hour, it makes it a very suitable product for the social environment of a retail shop. The appetite we’re seeing from operators really underlines that. We’ve already signed several major contracts across Europe to put the product onto SSBTs and on-screen in shops, with the first retail launches to be expected in early Q2, so watch this space!

Last but not least, when it comes to boosting player engagement and incremental revenue – can you talk us through who T-Kick will be go live with and how can it make a unique impact for operators looking to acquire new players?

AK: We’re aiming to launch it across at least 80% of the existing BetGames estate. As we are live on 1500 websites globally, you can get an impression on what we are aiming for. We were lucky to have amazing partners with the likes of Betway, Hollywoodbets, TopSport, Betsson, and many more who’ve launched already. Interestingly, about a quarter of the brands that went live with are new for us, so we’re already able to see that we have a product that is giving us a real net growth.

From the operators’ side, I would like to reiterate the biggest strength and value we’re bringing to the table, it’s all about providing the perfect complementary product to tier-one sports that excites and engages a next-gen, casual audience. Not only that, but we’re also bringing some much-needed innovation into the retail world that can attract new demographics of players.

To add to that, integrity is at the heart of TWAIN SPORT given our partnership with Sportradar, so especially in an environment with tighter and tighter regulation like Europe, we offer something really innovative in line with the regulations of the MGA, UKGC and other major European frameworks.