Gaming Intelligence spoke with Steven Spartinos, founder and co-CEO of Kiron Interactive, to learn the key aspects of his strategy for virtual sports.

How virtual sports attract different types of bettors

The stereotypical image of the online gambler is a thing of the past. The world of online betting has evolved significantly in recent years, and a new generation of bettors has emerged, revolutionizing the market and demanding more from their betting experience.

This new generation of online bettors are digital natives. They prioritize mobile and are accustomed to on-demand entertainment and instant results. As we've seen with trends like micro-bets, they're less interested in understanding the complexities of sports and long-term bets, and more interested in quick and accessible betting opportunities.

Virtual sports are well-positioned to attract this demographic, allowing operators to entice them with a consistent 24/7 offering.

Reduction in income

One of the biggest misconceptions and concerns operators have about virtual sports is that they reduce revenue from traditional sports betting. This is not only wrong, but our experience shows the opposite. Virtual sports not only complement traditional sports betting by offering opportunities to wager during downtime, but they can also attract a wider range of bettors.

Virtual sports lower the barrier to entry for sports betting. Traditional sports bettors typically have in-depth knowledge of the sport they bet on. They understand league structures, team form, player history, how different conditions can affect the sport, and other key statistics. Therefore, they also tend to bet only on specific sports.

This is because betting on a sport is not recommended for those who don't understand how it works or don't follow it closely; it requires some prior knowledge. If you don't follow horse racing, for example, betting on it is significantly riskier than for those who do.

Virtual sports eliminate this. You don't need advanced football knowledge to bet on the outcome of a virtual match. Of course, you need to learn the rules of what you're betting on, like with a slot machine, but you don't need the subtle understanding of traditional sports betting. This makes them perfect for the aforementioned new generation of bettors who seek entertainment and quick results. To the same end, they also offer a form of "always-on" sports betting. You don't have to wait a week for your favorite team to bet again, or for that value bet you've seen to be taken. It's a constant stream of content, ensuring greater player engagement.

This also makes it appealing to those who want to log into their betting app, place their bets, and get a result in minutes. Traditional sports bettors may prefer to play for longer. They research their bets, sometimes place accumulator and multi-bet bets, and are willing to wait for the outcome.

Virtual sports don't require any of this; bettors are simply presented with a sport to bet on and the odds for its outcomes. These odds are not determined by previous events and are much more like casino games, thanks to the use of random number generators (RNGs) to determine the results.

Of course, this can also make virtual sports ideal for attracting first-time bettors. Bettors can use virtual sports to understand the different types of bets and outcomes. It also offers customers who would normally only bet on one sport the opportunity to explore others they might enjoy without feeling like they're betting on something unfamiliar. This could easily be extended to traditional sports betting, adding further value for the operator.

Benefits for the operator

It is this lifetime value that makes virtual sports such a powerful sector for online casinos and sportsbooks. Virtual sports, in many ways, fall somewhere between the two and can help operators maximize their user base without the fear of losses in other areas.

With an increasingly competitive industry and operators constantly striving to outdo each other with different bonuses and new gimmicks, having a reliable virtual sports product that keeps bettors busy during the off-season and also appeals to casino players and more mobile-focused bettors can be a major advantage.

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