As the Canadian betting market begins to expand with the acceptance of single bets, the strategy for operators in the region becomes increasingly pivotal. 

Just prior to the passage of the legislation, at the Canadian Gaming Summit, IGT’s Senior Director of Business Development, PlaySports Vik Shrestha, spoke to CEO of SportsIQ, Omer Dor, as the pair underlined how single betting markets create a plethora of new opportunities for sports wagering. 

Shrestha stated: “Ultimately it creates a fantastic betting product, the key is that terminology needs to be understood and so it starts from the operator perspective – who actually is going to be having the patron touchpoints? Making sure everyone on the sportsbook operations side knows what they are getting into.”

He continued by outlining that the aforementioned sports betting knowledge needs to be emphasised through meticulous training, as well as taking time on gaining an understanding of the correct terminology that will become available. 

Furthermore, he pointed to the importance of the information becoming available and easily accessible for patrons, in order to give them the best possible strategy for new betting markets. 

Not only will single sports betting lead to new opportunities for bettors, it also presents a fresh challenge for operators in terms of pricing. 

Dor followed up by emphasising that even though the final product can feel relatively seamless, the act of setting odds and origination is far from a ‘trivial task’ – especially when it comes to live odds and player props. 

“Not having a lot of capabilities with regards to picking up quickly on player injuries or lineups will really have an impact on an operator’s profitability, he remarked,  underlining just how much consumer habits are evolving as betting opens up. 

He added: “Because it’s not a trivial task, you really have one or two options and these are the in-house capabilities to do it yourself, but you have to remember that every sport is different in terms of modelling that goes into it. 

“However if you don’t, you can rely on third-party providers, who essentially augment and provide you those odds.”

Shrestha followed this up by stating that it is smart to leverage the best possible supplier, revealing his belief that greater outsourcing is what the market is shifting towards.