Ioannis Pagounis – Tipbet – A world outside of football

Football, football, football. That is what appears to continue to be the marketing strategy of many bookmakers, potentially even more so in 2016. One EPL record was broken this season with 50% of clubs having their official shirt sponsor as a betting operator. 

Ioannis Pagounis, Tipbet

Ioannis Pagounis, Tipbet

There is an argument to be had that this makes sense of course; more and more people are watching the Premier League thanks to expanded streaming arrangements meaning the EPL is beamed onto more screens in ever more countries and to ever more potential punters.

But this also begs the question, how much is too much? Have we reached the point of saturation where there are so many betting brands thrown at us when watching a match live that they begin to merge into one, and then, arguably they lose their value. It makes sense in that scenario to look outside of football.

This is what Tipbet is doing. Granted it’s still got a finger in the huge football pie via a deal with Werder Bremen but it has also established partnerships in esports and, more recently, basketball.

We spoke to Tipbet Product Manager Ioannis Pagounis about their strategy and plans.

SBC: Why did you decide to become the official betting partner and premium sponsor of the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga?

Ioannis: Basketball has a potential which cannot be underestimated. We saw that during the NBA Finals between Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers last May/June; there was a bright and growing interest from European fans.

It’s not just about following LeBron or other legends of the American basketball, it’s about the intense excitement that basket transmits to create passionate fans from all over the globe.

As Germany is one of the main countries where we operate, we felt it important to contribute to the success of this awesome sport, for both the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga supporters and also for our players.

The BBL is also at a stage of growth, with more fans attending and tuning in than ever before. This makes it a bigger draw for a European audience that has traditionally had no other choice than the NBA. In turn, this has created more funding and allowed better players to join the league.

As mentioned, Germany is incredibly important for us. This is shown in our other sponsorship deals. As well as the BBL, we also have partnerships with SV Werder Bremen of the football Bundesliga and Fortuna Dusseldorf from the 2. Bundesliga. There has also been a clear increase in the amount of interest in Germany for basketball matches – both to watch and bet on – which is why we feel now is the ideal time to invest in the BBL and improve the betting options for our customers.

SBC: How much battling with other brands is there in basketball compared to football? For instance at a Bundesliga basketball match how many brands will viewers be shown compared with a typical football match?

Ioannis: I think it’s fair to say that the basketball market is not quite as cramped as the football one. Marketing is clearly popular – as it is in any sport – but the sheer global reach of football makes that the toughest sports market to compete in.

However, we are the exclusive Betting Partner of the easyCredit BBL and this gives our brand big coverage around the arenas during matches. Our agreement means that Tipbet is shown on the BBL’s website and social media channels.

SBC: You’ve a partnership with Bremen and so clearly still view football focused partnerships as valuable. But are they becoming less so? Or is it a matter of playing it smart and differentiating yourself from the many other operators in the space?

Ioannis: Football is the king of the sports in Europe and nobody really disputes this.

It’s a matter of brand awareness, as the majority of players of the sportsbook prefer football as their main event to bet on – which is why we offer odds on all games, even matches like under-17 internationals or English non-league fixtures.

Our logo incorporates football as well – this simply represents that Tipbet’s main audience for sports betting loves football. I don’t think at all that this trend will move away from football any time in the future.

However, we believe that the addition of basketball and esports are unique opportunities to distinguish ourselves from competitors and gain a bigger customer base to incorporate non-football fans.

SBC: Should the powers that be put a limit on the amount of betting companies that can be promoted or be involved in a single sporting event?

Ioannis: I am not sure about that – companies that invest in sports help to make the game what it is, whether that is football, basketball or anything else.

They are also answering a massive demand from supporters to be able to bet on their favourite events as they watch it. I also feel that it’s important to have competition between companies in order to keep them on top of their game.

In terms of promotion, as mentioned, in the BBL we are now a massive presence at games thanks to our partnership. So, from a personal point of view, we have noticed more interest in our site and basketball betting due to this, which has allowed us to run special promotions on our website in conjunction with our betting partners.

SBC: Finally, we recently saw what is believed to be esports’ biggest betting based sponsorship to date with Betway and NiP. Will Tipbet be looking more into this space, have you considered esports’ ambassadors?

Ioannis: We accept that football is not for everyone, so in recent times we have begun to expand our range to these users. This strategy has led to us becoming involved in esports, where we are the Official Sponsor of the AD Finem team. To this end, we try to include as many different sports on our site as possible and it is something we’re passionate about.

The beauty of our esports offering is that as well as free streaming numerous traditional sports, we recently reached an agreement to stream ESL events for free. This is in conjunction with Betradar, and provides a high quality stream so that esport fans are able to place bets on the action as it unfolds.

This shows Tipbet’s willingness to invest in emerging and rapidly growing markets of the industry in order to bring the most varied and interesting product to our customers. We are looking to be a big player in this market, which is why we have become involved already unlike some of our competitors.

The venture into esports also helps to take advantage of the huge number of new players and customers that are interested in the sport. With a digital savvy generation of youngsters, it is clear that esports in the new and growing trend going forward.