The race for the White House has entered its final week, with national and swing state polling between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump incredibly close.

Deemed to be ‘the biggest event in the history of gambling’, the 2024 US election will see sportsbooks run a market on one of the defining moments in modern times.

Ahead of the vote, set to take place on 5 November, Christian Lee, Business Journalist for GamblingTV, spoke to Ak Bets’ Head of Strategy and Performance, Joe Lee, about how the operator is leveraging the race to become president on its platform.

“AK Bets is a new entrant in the online sportsbook world,” Lee explained. “For us, it’s important to focus on where we see our differentiators against the other competitors. We focus on big prices, big limits and also customer service.

“The US election in terms of a one-off mass market event is a really good opportunity for AK Bets to highlight those differentiators to our customer base and to acquire new customers at the same time.”

The challenge for operators, once they have acquired a customer through a market such as the US election, is transiting players to other markets on their site. Lee again emphasised AK Bets’ focus on price as key to keeping new players on its platform.

He said: “One of the key focuses for AK Bets in terms of mainstream mass market events like a US election is to be front and centre on price. Thereafter, you want customers to look at these markets and be aware that we are the best price.

“We will not be beaten by any sports book in the market when you’re looking at the price for [Kamala] Harris or [Donald] Trump on the US election and also the other candidates who are still potentially in the running.

“This extends into other areas when they’re potentially looking at other betting opportunities down the track. As well, intertwined with that, you’re looking at the depths and breadth of the markets that you offer, particularly on politics. If someone is coming through that vertical you want to make sure that they can see plenty of other marks and have opportunities.”

Entertainment Factor

Interest in the 2024 US election has been increased by the antics of Donald Trump, whose performance in debates and appearances on shows like the Joe Rogan Podcast has transformed the election into a “mass market event”.

“Extended family of mine and extended family of viewers, all of a sudden they are interested in politics and interested in what the market is doing,” said Lee. “That is a result of this intertwining of reality TV and real-world politics.”

Jumping on these trends as they develop can be key for operators and Lee outlined the importance of a “back and forth between customers and the operator so you’re in a position to leverage any potential trends and identify them early”.

He added: “If customers are asking us for a particular market or a particular event, irrespective of what it is, we’ll certainly consider and make it available for betting within the realms of reality.

“We’re big believers in engaging with our customer base and giving them a service that is better than the service they currently receive from other operators and being responsive and agile when it comes to customer market requests and everything else in that space. 

“In terms of looking at trends, ultimately you’re trying to serve as a customer and the trends will come from the customer base. So you leverage that as much as possible”