As it continues to build momentum across the US market, Amelco prides itself on delivering “innovation, new products and ways to stay ahead of the curve”. So it’s no surprise that the platform provider has dipped its toes into the world of secondary markets, as evidenced by its partnership with BetSwap and BetSaracen.
Secondary markets enable gamblers to buy and sell active bet slips with other players on their sportsbook of choice – whether that be before or during an event, on the condition that the outcome hasn’t been settled yet. It can be said that in the last 12 months, this form of wagering has grown in popularity and continues to do so.
To discuss their partnership and the role of secondary markets in player engagement, Amelco’s Head of US Brandon Walker was joined by Brent Winston – CEO and Co-Founder of BetSwap – and BetSaracen’s Chief Marketing Officer Carlton Saffa.
SBC Americas: Carlton, as the market leader in the state of Arkansas, can you tell us a bit more about BetSaracen and your partnership with Amelco?
Carlton Saffa: We’re in a great place – since going online a year ago, we are now the 15th largest sportsbook in North America by win total – despite only being in a state with a population of just over three million people.
In terms of casino gaming and sports betting, I see these as being inextricably linked. Sports betting is a casino product and we have always worked to protect sports betting as a casino product line.
To deliver our online sportsbook, we’re partnered with Amelco, who supply their full end-to-end platform to power everything we offer today. In short, partnering with Amelco has been a gamechanger for us. It has given us the ability to build a national grade sportsbook as a locally focused brand voice, and thanks to them, they have truly put us on the map.
SBC Americas: For those that might not know, Brent can you introduce both yourself and BetSwap?
Brent Winston: I’m Brent Winston, and in addition to working as a corporate M&A lawyer, I’m also the co-founder of BetSwap Limited. In short, I’m just a regular Canadian who loves sports and sports betting and wanted to find a way to use a product like BetSwap on the sportsbooks I use, so my co-founders and I set out to build it.
BetSwap came about from one Sunday night when me and my brothers had a great parlay in play and it came down to the last leg. Unfortunately, I couldn’t lay the other side as odds were quite high, cashout wasn’t offered and I generally did not want to hedge as that somewhat takes the fun out of it. I thought to myself, there has got to be something out there that would allow me to sell this bet to another individual who would happily take the remaining leg for the value it provided.
Having taken a look and not being able to find anything that would suit our needs, we realized that we had an opportunity with the gap in the market to build something and we’ve seen a huge amount of confidence in the idea ever since.
I believe we’ve got a great product – with nothing directly analogous on the US market. We never take wagers, and we never touch money. This means we have an incredibly interesting business model in that we don’t incur the transaction costs (whether the bet wins or loses).
In addition, our real edge is that we offer the bet to the market, not back to the book. Players will always inherently feel more secure that they’re selling the bet to another player and not to the book, which makes a world of difference for their parlay and their willingness to engage with the product.
SBC Americas: Brandon, can you begin by telling us about this partnership with BetSwap? How did this come about and what does it entail?
Brandon Walker: At Amelco, we’re constantly looking at ways to integrate new tech and features to ensure we’re at the forefront of the North American market. BetSwap, of course, falls into that category. By being the first to integrate their tech, we’re now pioneers in the US when it comes to offering a secondary marketplace for buying and selling bets.
In short, we want to offer the best end-to-end platform out there, so projects like this are a natural fit for us when it comes to teaming up with the likes of BetSwap, and of course, our good friends at Bet Saracen.
Carlton and his team are a truly grassroots US brand, and now the 15th largest in the country by win total, despite only being a state of a few million people. Of course, being the first to offer this together means that we’re giving them the best platform to continue dominating the market. It also goes without saying that the guys at BetSwap are fantastic people and we’re delighted to work with them and their product.
SBC Americas: Why did you choose to partner with Amelco?
Brent Winston: They understood the BetSwap product instantaneously – right from the word go. The whole team at Amelco has been fantastic in facilitating introductions to their clients and I can’t give enough credit to the whole tech side of their business, as they have just made it really easy for us throughout the whole journey. When doing my research, I could see how much time it would take with others, but Amelco offered an instant road map.
To have guys like their CTO on calls making sure functionality is in place was very reassuring and the amount of detail put towards ensuring their customers have everything they need was refreshing. What Amelco has is a truly cutting-edge platform which is fully end-to-end, making it truly one of the best in North America.
SBC Americas: Brandon, how is BetSwap’s technology being used by Amelco to give punters the opportunity to “exit betting positions at high margins”?
Brandon Walker: It’s all about giving both punters and our operator partners as many options as possible. This is a hybrid version of a unique spin on cashout in that you’re selling your bet back to the marketplace, rather than taking a price from the sportsbook.
We are constantly improving our offering to give our clients as many different options as possible to drive revenue. Given that BetSwap will be a completely unique proposition on the market – I believe it has every potential to become a true case study of success.
