In part one of our in-depth interview with Sporting Index Direct & Digital Marketing Manager Kevan Edgerton, the sports spread betting expert gave us his insights on the growth of the industry. The second part of our Q&A saw Kevan looking at player profiles and spread betting’s crossover with other verticals. Today he concludes our interview by telling us about Sporting Index’s own story.
Income Access (IA): Kevan, can you tell us about Sporting Index’s evolution over the years?
Kevan Edgerton (KE), Sporting Index: We were founded in the early 1990s and launched our sports spread betting website in 2001. Since then, we’ve experienced a lot of growth and today we’re the leading player in sports spread betting with an estimated 80% share of the global market.
A major reason for Sporting Index’s growth is that we’re innovators –not just in the spread betting market but also sports betting as a whole. We were one of the first operators to add live in-play functionality and clients have been able to ‘cash out’ for years.IA: Can you tell us about some of your brand’s more recent innovations?KE: Mobile has been one of our big focuses, as it really complements the in-play element of sports spread betting. There’s no more exciting way to bet than spread betting, where every shot matters, and betting on a smart phone or tablet keeps you close to the action. We’ve developed Sporting Index mobile apps for both Apple iOS and Android devices. We’re constantly improving and optimising our mobile offering.
We just launched a free £100 no-deposit offer for players who open a new account. We also have lots of regular promotions for existing players. We also have a Training Centre with educational videos to support all our players. We have also made a significant investment in targeted CRM as a way of maximising the lifetime of our clients. We offer them personalised communications and promotions based on who they are, as opposed to blanketing a database generically. This 1-to-1 marketing effort is helping us keep churn rates down and revenue up.IA: In June, Sporting Index launched a new affiliate programme. Tell us about it.KE: We had an affiliate presence in the past, but this year it has become a more important part of our marketing strategy. We therefore launched a new affiliate programme earlier this summer in partnership with Income Access. We saw the IA platform as taking our affiliate offering to a different level. It’s got that granularity to it and full transparency that affiliates need these days. You can also switch content really quickly.IA: Beyond the technology, what are the main advantages to affiliates of the new Sporting Index affiliate programme?KE: Our players have significantly greater value than a regular fixed-odds sports betting player. Sporting Index also has very loyal players – we have a lot of players who’ve been with the brand for many, many years.
Sports spread betting remains an untapped revenue stream for affiliates. When they consider promoting sports spread betting, Sporting Index is the obvious choice – we’re the dominant brand. We’ll also drive more revenue per player to them than fixed-odds sport betting brands will.IA: Thanks for your time, Kevan, and all the best for the Premier League and other upcoming sporting events!
For more information about the Sporting Index brand and affiliate programme, please visit the Sporting Index affiliate page or please contact Kevan directly.
*Sports spread betting may not be suitable for everyone and can result in losses that exceed your deposits, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved.