As the country continues to progress out of COVID-19 lockdowns, high-street retail bookmakers throughout the country are enjoying getting back to business.
This includes the employees of Star Sports, which despite the huge surge in online activity over the past year, has continued to work to expand its retail division, having recently opened new outlets in areas such as Clapham High Street in the London Borough of Lambeth, South London.
Speaking with shop manager John Finnegan – a 24-year veteran of the betting and gaming industry, runner-up in the 2001 Betting Shop Manager of the Year Awards and horse racing and boxing enthusiast – Hannah Baycroft examined what makes a Star Sports retail outlet tick.
Instead of relying on the old method of pinning copies of the Racing Post throughout the shop, Star Sports has pursued a similar strategy to other land-based betting enterprises such as William Hill and BoyleSports in integrating electronic, screen-based displays across its outlets.
Additionally, in order to maximise audience engagement in the shops, the company has incorporated live BT Sports and Sky Sports coverage of major sporting events such as both T20 and test cricket, and in particular football.
Whilst conversing with Baycroft near the shop’s range of gaming machines, Finnegan noted that the Sky Sports and BT offering was very popular in the evenings, when many punters will come in to try their luck on the day’s midweek fixtures.
Source – Star Sports YouTube Channel
