Q&A: Sporting Group CEO, Simon Trim, on the increasing scrutiny on spread betting

EGR Intel: CFDs and spread betting has come under the regulatory microscope in recent months. Did you ever give any thought to moving Sporting Index to a more traditional fixed odds model?

Simon Trim (ST): We’d always look at the best ways to develop the business but the current spotlight of CFDs and spread betting isn’t affecting our short-term thinking. We’ve entered the current industry consultation but a lot of what is under scrutiny applies to the financial (rather than sports betting) market, and we only operate in sports. For example, we don’t offer leverage and we have never positioned or claimed sports spread betting is an investment. We are proud to be UK-based, fully regulated by the FCA and the UKGC to offer a recreational product that is the most exciting way to bet on live sport.

EGR Intel: Sporting Group acquired the trading business Touchbet last year, although it was bought from Magnus Hedman who owns both businesses. Did much change following the deal or it was more a case of Hedman tidying up his assets?

ST: The two companies have a shared identity because we both see our core competitive advantage as our trading and algorithmic models. There was an obvious benefit in bringing the two businesses together, at the same time consolidating some of the owner’s shareholdings.

Touchbet is highly automated, which means it wasn’t a massive integration from an HR point of view. Because of the acquisition we have been able to accelerate our automated Risk Management Services proposition, which is the service we have recently agreed to supply to Danske Spil.

Simon Trim, CEO Sporting Group

EGR Intel: You noted Sporting Solutions beat out a number of established sportsbook suppliers to win this Svenska Spel contract recently. What were you offering that they weren’t?

ST: Firstly, we have a strong UK sports betting heritage via Sporting Index, and that resonated with Svenska because we bring them expertise in running sportsbooks without also competing against them at the brand level. Secondly, we have more official content and more Nordic-facing sports than other suppliers.  Lastly, we have a reputation for improving a lottery’s competitive strength in a liberalizing market. Sweden is in a very similar position to where Denmark was a few years ago, and we have partnered Danske Spil since their market opened and helped ensure they remain market leader, despite the intense competition they now face.

EGR Intel: How important is it for suppliers to have a ‘self-trade’ option now, where an operator’s traders can price their own opinions in?

ST: Self-trade has always been a key part of our proposition because it gives a level of price flexibility and control to operators that is unrivalled by other suppliers. Historically, the demand for self-trade was from “Tier 1” firms who wanted access to our models but use their own traders, usually around high-profile games like the Champions League for example.

However, we’re increasingly seeing that self-trade is being used by operators to add additional local content and differentiate their offering from homogenised competition. Offering models for AFL in Australia for example, or handball in Denmark, means operators can price in their local expertise.