Opinion: Bookmakers prepare to go mobile for Euro 2012

While new England head coach Roy Hodgson and 15 other national team managers complete their preparations for the European Championships, the same thing is happening in bookmakers’ offices across the UK, Ireland, Gibraltar and many other parts of the world.

Euro 2012 has been on the radar for operators ever since the 2010 World Cup came to an end, with the last few months witnessing firms improve all aspects of their business in readiness for a deluge of new and existing customers visiting their websites hungry to place a string of bets on the tournament.

Betting turnover exceeded £1bn during the 2010 World Cup with industry experts predicting three times as many bets being placed at Euro 2012 than there were at Euro 2008, even though that tournament was described as a watershed event four years ago.

In the lead-up to the Euros we have seen several bookmakers launch eye-catching promotions, with BetVictor stealing a march on their rivals by offering to refund outright bets if Spain triumph in a major tournament for the third time on the bounce. However, Stan James got its fingers burnt by offering the same bet two years ago and the only saving grace with this promotion is that Victor won’t be filling his satchel with too much money for Spain as punters look to top up on Germany, Netherlands and France.

Ladbrokes, Boylesports and Blue Square are three other operators that have launched eye-catching antepost promotions for Euro 2012, although these merely act as a way to get new customers on board and remind existing customers how to make a deposit or two.

Every bookmaker knows that the majority of bets will be placed once the action gets underway on Friday 8 June, with trading teams looking to outperform each other when it comes to their range of pre-match and in-play markets on the 32 games that will take place in Poland and Ukraine.

It’s actually telling that Paddy Power has decided to focus its promotions on England and the Republic of Ireland’s opening matches this time around, hoping that this will be an effective measure that will lead the Irish firm to become the bookmaker of choice when it comes to daily betting on matches.

Similarly, we can expect in-play betting turnover to comfortably surpass pre-match turnover for the European Championship, something that already happens for many Premier League, La Liga and Champions League matches.

An increasing number of customers prefer to wait until a match has kicked off before striking a wager, especially as half-time provides a convenient window to assess the game and be reminded of the odds available thanks to the fact that bookmakers can now push their wares through television advertising.

There is also the fact that customers, more so than ever before, are placing bets on their mobile devices, something that ties in nicely with in-play betting. A number of bookmakers I have spoken to claim they are now seeing more than 50% of football bets placed on mobile rather than online, with devices such as the iPad being bracketed in the former category.

Mobile sports betting is still in its infancy as operators look to create or hone their products so that they become acquisition-friendly and not just an added value channel where existing customers can easily access their account and place in-play bets while on the move.

What is especially attractive about mobile is that operators can expect a good deal more loyalty from customers than they would get online where odds comparison tools and websites are common and punters are more price-savvy than they have ever been.

Once a consumer has a bookmaker app on their smart phone and is familiar with the process of placing a quick in-play bet through the device, there is less chance they will consider a competitor brand unless they are dissatisfied.

Therefore, to become the number one mobile betting bookmaker is a mission statement shared universally across firms and Euro 2012 is clearly an opportunity to stake a claim for the biggest share of the pie.

Matthew Glazier is the managing director of award-winning sports, news and betting website www.bettingpro.com.