SBC Summit Lisbon is fast approaching, and on the latest episode of iGaming Daily’s Path to Lisbon limited series, the show looked back on a panel titled talkSPORT Bet: Leveraging brand and media from last year’s SBC Summit Barcelona.

SBC’s Managing Director, Andrew McCarron, was joined by BV-Group’s Chief Commercial Officer, Brent Almeida and the two discussed how talkSPORT and BetVictor leveraged each other to create a new betting brand – talkSPORT Bet. 

TalkSPORT Bet combines the editorial image and following of talkSPORT’s media outlet with BetVictor’s proprietary wagering software and operational capabilities.

On the partnership, Brent said: “One of the things that set talkSPORT apart was the fact that not only were they a well-known brand, but through their expansion into digital channels they were creating this engaging community around sport. That has a massive benefit on your ability to convert customers onto real-money gaming sites and retain those customers. 

“I think that what we brought to the table, which is also absolutely essential, is a market-leading product. You have all the underlying infrastructure that supports our UK business and a licence as well. We were able to come to the table and say: you focus on what you do well and we’re going to do what we do well and together we can focus on collaboration to make it as successful as possible.”

Brent added that its partnership with TalkSPORT has helped aid BV-Group’s expansion into other regions as it can point to talkSPORT BET as an example of how the group can successfully partner with local brands. 

As gambling reforms such as affordability checks are implemented in the UK, regulations around the industry are continuing to tighten.

Brent explained the new rules are causing some larger operators to avoid the UK market, however, BetVictor’s technology allows it to look at customer’s accounts across brands.

He said: “Larger operators in the UK have struggled with implementing affordability when they’ve grown through M&A. They have separate databases on separate licences and you end up being forced to implement [affordability check] through more of a blunt approach than you want.

“As we embarked on the multi-brand journey, we built out a single customer view. Before we launched our first non-BetVictor brand, we already had the ability to look across all of an individual’s accounts on different brands in the UK. We can look at a single customer across their multiple accounts which allows us to take compliance decisions in a way that protects the customer.”

He concluded that this approach not only protects the customer but also the brands the group works with, as the system ensures that “we’re not jeopardising that [brand] reputation and we’re helping them build brand equity”.