Coral launches PERFORM-powered in-play retail solution
Bookmaker screens PERFORM pictures and data in shops enabling customers to use online account to bet in-running on wider variety of sports
Coral will look to merge its online and retail betting further after signing an exclusive deal with sports data supplier PEFORM to offer in-shop customers an increased number of in-play betting opportunities though its In-Play service.
The deal marks PERFORM’s first foray into the retail space and sees the company provide Coral with live coverage of a range of sporting events accompanied by real-time statistics supplied by PERFORM’s eGR award-winning RunningBall service.
Customers can watch the Coral selected action and read the RunningBall data on the bookmaker’s television screens and place bets using their online Coral account and Coral Connect card via in-shop Coral betting terminals and through a platform developed by digital development company Vermantia.
The product, which is exclusive to Coral in the UK for 18 months, has already been rolled out to around 100 of the bookmaker’s high street shops with plans extend to the remaining 1,700 stores within the next 12 months.
PERFORM said the content will be optimised to fit with shop opening hours in order to give punters access to in-running betting opportunities during quieter periods of the day.
Speaking to eGaming Review, Andrew Ashenden, PERFORM’s commercial director for betting, said the service also will help Coral introduce traditional in-shop customers to its online betting service.
“What this does fantastically is bring the online in-play experience into shops and the great thing about that is you can cross-pollenate users from retail to online and online to retail using the in-play experience,” Ashenden said.
“In-play betting is a large chunk of online sportsbook revenues and this product is potentially a bridge to replicating that in shops,” he added.
While the product is exclusive in the UK, Ashenden said the company was currently having “a lot of positive conversations” with operators in other markets as it looked to take the service international.
The launch of the new service comes after Coral unveiled its cross-channel Coral Connect card earlier this year and Olly Raeburn, Coral marketing director, said the PERFORM deal would further improve the in-shop betting experience.
“The quality and speed of RunningBall data, coupled with the fact that the solution uniquely enables us to integrate our own odds and choose the exact content we want to show, means PERFORM is an ideal partner as we look to further enhance the betting experience across our stores in the UK,” Raeburn said.