Having joined content platform WSC Sports in February 2021 as Head of Betting Business Development, Yuval Benyamini has thrived in the role, with the firm teaming with Sportradar to launch the sports betting sector’s first ‘Live Video Notification’ push service. 

In a recent interview with SBC, Benyamini and Patrick Mostboeck, Global Director Video & Streaming Products at Sportradar, underlined the pivotal role of video in the sports betting ecosystem and how it combines with streaming to maximise engagement. 

Benyamini emphasised that the firm’s offering is expansive and isn’t limited to live video notifications. He stated: “If you take an NBA game for example, we are actually automatically creating hundreds of different highlight clips of this specific game based on the broadcaster’s preferences.      

“If there’s a rights holder that wants to show all the best bits from the action for their YouTube account for example, we can do that, or they may want to limit this video length to just a two-minute recap that’s right for Twitter, or a one-minute clip for Instagram which shows just three-pointers. 

“A French broadcaster for example may only want to show highlights solely from French players such as Rudy Gobert giving their audience the most relevant content. Whether the need is for extended highlights, or very short clips, our system can create all these combinations of highlights.”      

In terms of the partnership with Sportradar and how the two firms have collaborated to bolster the user experience, he added: “We are able to engage active or inactive users by notifying them of events in real-time, relevant to their interests or habits. For example, If I’m interested in the Bundesliga or, perhaps more specifically in matches involving Bayern Munich, I’ll receive a video notification of any goal that happens within their matches – delivered straight to my phone. 

“So, if Lewandowski scores, I’ll get to watch a short video that shows the goal which is accompanied with a call to action from the betting operator, with new opportunities for the user to place bets for the rest of the game. 

“The Live Video Notification directs me to the bookmaker’s page for a specific betting market. Together with Sportradar, we have created an important tool that, in real-time, enables bookmakers to engage with their users.”

Providing the perspective of Sportradar, Mostboeck added: “Our biggest priority is to add value to our operators’ provision and enhance what is already a well-established streaming offering. We offer 200,000 live streams a year featuring some of the world’s biggest sporting tournaments and competitions.  

“This plays an important role in terms of customer retention, brand building and revenue generation. The Live Video Notification service is the next step towards bringing users back into the relevant apps to trigger the next transaction.

“Based on early feedback and some early experience, we see that the push notification itself, and the short form content, is a very good way to do that. Mainly because it’s so easy to consume.       

“Audiences nowadays have a relatively short attention span. This is why the Live Video Notification is so important from an engagement and retention point of view, offering our operators the tools to reconnect with their customers on a more regular basis.”