Are you sick of the constant barrage of ‘Bet with Mates’ ads flowing from betting moguls like SportsBet and PointsBet? Well, unfortunately for us their strategies are being replicated again as the latest announcement from industry copycat BlueBet (ASX: BBT) revealed a strategic investment in UK-based Low 6 Limited, in order to support its growth strategy by ‘gamifying’ their wagering.
With the investment totalling US$500k (AU$799k), Low 6 will provide its experience in implementing gambling features into an interactive and engaging free-to-play game, allowing the betting experience to be gamified through a white-labelled platform. Operating globally, the Developer has previously been engaged by big names such as PointsBet, the UFC, and the NFL to create user targeted games geared towards maintaining customer volumes.
Seeking to create unique ways of engaging with its customer base and incentivising new ones to join, the investment will kick off the development of multiple game formats including Fantasy, Predictions, Trivia, and Brackets which will target younger generation punters.
The investment will enable the Company to launch games through Low 6’s platform over a five year period, underscoring BlueBet’s commitment to add new and innovative products to its portfolio announced in its annual report.
“We see free to play gaming as a huge adjacent opportunity to our core sports books and know there is real appetite from our customers – particularly our younger customers who make up a considerable portion of our book – to extend their playing time with BlueBet into new formats such as Fantasy sports,” said Bill Richmond, CEO of BlueBet.
In recent months, BlueBet has pivoted its growth strategy and has sights locked on scaling its Australian customer base to meet eye-to-eye with industry competition following a withdrawn and failed application to enter the US wagering market.
As BlueBet appears to be continuing to blindly follow its larger peers and struggles to conjure up an original thought or idea that hasn’t been done before, seemingly in a lock-step trance replicating successful campaigns launched by its competitors.
Being unoriginal, the niche idea of engaging with BlueBet and placing punts via a game doesn’t come with the same hype that was met with similar launches and may not be the saving grace the Company was hoping for. It makes more sense for customers to seek the offerings from competitors as they have more features, a history of weeding out issues and development to ensure a friendly and easy user experience.
Current rhetoric points towards controversy that highlights how real-life games turned into a digital format for gaming purposes increases the rate of gambling behaviours amongst players from the younger demographic. Known as iGaming, it’s not the game itself but instead the methods to ensure player revenue is consistent and volumes is where the issues arise.
The popularity of iGaming is always growing with young adults and teens leading that trend. As mentioned earlier, games like this don’t present any inherent risks, but in an attempt to entertain players and maintain engagement these developers have included financing requirements for players to pay to progress further in the game, creating the illusion of chance and reward which slowly exposes users to behaviour akin to addictive gambling.
With that in mind, the risks associated with creating unsuspecting gamblers, young sporting fans who are seeking competitive online games may confuse BlueBet’s offering with what’s available, will subject and turn themselves into a target for predatory advertising, won’t apply real-life risk management and without realising, will become a long-term BlueBet customer.
Following the announcement, shares popped almost 6% but pulled back by late afternoon to close the day 1.15% lower with it currently sitting at $0.44
Trading Desk Assistant at Emerald Financial
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