Finding a business model for a sports betting platform

The purpose of this thesis is to document the research on finding a solid business model for the creation of a startup in the sports betting investment market. Having worked closely in this market with professionals and companies, as well as having access to data from more than 175 players, it was possible to study and measure the existing problems, to look for possible solutions, test different initiatives, conceive a possible prototype and finally design a more robust business model for a platform to make investments in sports betting. This thesis will document the journey of developing from idea into a startup project, using and exploring the lean startup and costumer development process for it

A content analysis of gambling operators’ Twitter accounts at the start of the English premier league football season

The use of social media is now an established strategy to engage and maintain customer loyalty. The purpose of the present study was to examine the Twitter accounts of ten of the largest online sports betting operators in the UK to determine what marketing strategies were employed. More specifically, this study analyzed 3375 tweets posted by the operators during the opening weekend of the 2018–2019 English Premier League football season using a content analysis methodology. The results demonstrated that multiple strategies, including hashtags, were used to link gambling operator tweets with major sporting events, and the use of numerous promotional campaigns. Notably, over 90% of the tweets contained no responsible gambling information. The quantity and content of social media posts underline the need for a review of the current advertising regulations in the UK. Further research should examine how exposure to sports betting social media marketing influences gambling behavior

SomoTrack Business Plan

The horse racing sector has been declining for many decades and needs to increase the number of new players to rejuvenate the sector. The goal of this project is not about picking the best horse to win the race, but about enhancing the overall experience of new and casual customers in order to increase the attendance at live horse races. SomoTrack is offering a mobile web application to help the horse racing track enhance its new and casual customers’ experience during live races, potentially turning new customers into recurring customers. The application simplifies the steep learning curve associated with making bets and helps the casual customers to pick horses by eliminating the pain of interpreting raw data from the Daily Racing Form. Additionally, SomoTrack integrates the player’s racetrack experience with social networks like Twitter and Facebook, taking advantage of the power of word of mouth advertising

An investigation into social media marketing of gambling within Great Britain, its impact upon behaviour and the potential for effective safer gambling promotion.

Background: There is a growing awareness of gambling as a public health issue in Great Britain, whereby harm occurring from gambling extends beyond individuals with a diagnosis of gambling disorder. Gambling marketing has been highlighted as something which may contribute towards gambling harm. The gambling industry in Great Britain is placing increasing focus upon marketing their products on social media. However, minimal research has focused on how gambling is marketed on social media in Great Britain or how bettors respond to such marketing. Methods: An observational approach was taken within the first two studies in order to assess: the types of content included within gambling marketing on social media, the underlying messages of such content, the types of bets advertised and the success of advertised bets. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was carried out upon qualitative data from 10 frequent gamblers to explore how they think about gambling marketing. Two quantitative, online experimental studies were also carried out to assess how regular bettors respond to examples of advertisements on social media and whether social media can be used to effectively promote safer gambling. Findings: Concerns were highlighted about both the frequency and content of social media marketing. Bets included within marketing were largely unsuccessful and simulation data highlighted that the chances of making money upon advertised bets decreased as the number of bets included within the simulations increased. Gambling affiliate marketing was highlighted as a specific concern, given their large number of direct advertisements and their positioning as ‘betting communities’. Bettors were found to place increased confidence in affiliate marketing for specific types of bets. They also perceived marketing as something that they could take advantage of to increase their chances of winning, whilst acting as a risk factor for those perceived as being vulnerable. Receiving safer gambling messages on social media for two weeks led to a reduction in gambling behaviour compared to the previous two weeks, however further research is needed to clarify whether the messages were responsible for the observed changes. Conclusions: Findings highlight numerous ways in which social media marketing has the potential to contribute towards gambling harm. Increased regulation of both operator and affiliate marketing is required to ensure such marketing is conducted in an open and safe manner

The psychosocial impact of online problem gambling

Ever since the National Lottery was introduced in 1994, there has been an increased prevalence of gambling in the UK. Technological innovation in this time has led to new ways in which people can gamble worldwide (e.g., internet gambling, mobile phone gambling and interactive television gambling), and increased accessibility to opportunities to gamble worldwide. The fastest growing form of gambling is internet gambling, however, little is understood in relation to the characteristics of internet gamblers, the psychosocial impact of internet gambling (e.g. problem gambling) and implications for public social policy. The overall aims of this thesis were to establish (i) what makes internet gambling potentially addictive, (ii) how is internet gambling located, accessed, and utilised by players, and (iii) what the salient structural and situational characteristics of internet gambling are and how these impacted (psychologically and socially) on peoples‘ lives. These aims were addressed through three stages of linked research utilising a multi-method design including a literature-based scoping study, in-depth interviews (n=40), and a comprehensive online survey (n=975) in order to triangulate the data to examine the psychosocial impact and potential addictiveness of internet gambling

Information Outlook, October 2003

Volume 7, Issue 10https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2003/1009/thumbnail.jp

Interactivity in Louisville museums.

This study examines interactive exhibits in a selection of museums in Louisville, Kentucky, and argues that interactive exhibits are a necessary addition to contemporary history museums. It examines the importance of interactivity, how it is used within museums, and critically evaluates the interactive exhibits examined in Louisville on their effectiveness. This effectiveness is judged using three measures: amount of self-directed learning or level of interaction involved, contextual information available, and information imparted to the visitors through the interactive experience. The study examines forty-three exhibits and concludes that a slight majority succeed with all three measures. The paper concludes that studies such as these must continue and, since there are limitations in the field on how to judge the success of these exhibits, a standardized measure must be created to more accurately judge the effectiveness and success of interactive exhibits in history museums

Predicting outcomes in Australian rules football

The primary aim of this dissertation was to utilise mathematical models and computer programming techniques to provide further insight in relation to predicting outcomes in Australian Rules football (AFL). This thesis comprises a collection of research problems relating to home advantage, match prediction and the efficiency of betting markets in AFL. Firstly, a new paradigm was proposed for predicting home advantage in AFL by separately evaluating a number of psychological (crowd intimidation), physiological (travel fatigue) and tactical (ground familiarity) factors. This novel method for quantifying home advantage was utilised for match prediction using a variant of the Elo ratings system. These predictions were applied to betting markets to see if consistent profits were attainable using betting strategies based around the Kelly criterion. Due to a severe lack of accessible in-play betting data, a computer program was developed using the programming language Perl to integrate with the Betfair Application Programming Interface (API) to automatically record in-play betting data for AFL matches. This information was updated in a MySQL database which could then be easily exported as a CSV file for manipulation in Excel. The in-play betting data was transformed to provide a visual representation of who is going to win the match and with what level of certainty. Tests of semi-strong efficiency were performed on the in-play betting data for the 2009 AFL season using logistic regression to see whether teams with certain characteristics are underbet or overbet relative to their chances of winning. A real time prediction model was developed using a Generalised Logistic Model which accounts for the interdependence, if any, between team quality and score difference as the match progresses. These predictions were applied to in-play betting markets to see if consistent profits were attainable using betting strategies based around the Kelly criterion. If home advantage in AFL is comprised of a combination of psychological, physiological and tactical factors then it’s plausible that home advantage is dependent upon the current state of the game (score) since the crowd, for example, react to performance. Therefore, home advantage was modelled at various stages during the game to see the difference, if any, between home teams with certain pre-game characteristics (favourite/underdog) and in-game characteristics (ahead/behind). Finally, a macro was written in Excel to automate the transformation of a mass of “live-streaming” performance data into a single web-based phases of play plot. Statistically, the plot provides an effective representation of the state of the game at any point in time, illustrating which team is playing a style of football highly correlated with winning. Graphically the plot is enhanced by adding images of a player’s guernsey when a goal is scored

The changing face of gambling: an investigation of serious leisure horserace gamblers.

Gambling has received considerable academic attention from a range of disciplinary directions but to date has been dominated by a paradigm that places overriding emphasis on individuals and addiction and pathological studies. This thesis takes this area of study in another direction by focusing its attention on gambling as a leisure activity which is organized and formed through social relationships and shared knowledgeability. Using as its starting point the serious leisure perspective the thesis critically explores the leisure field of horserace gambling. Bringing attention to the pervasive societal influence of neoliberal ideology, the shift from producer capitalism to consumer capitalism and major developments in digital technology, the thesis uncovers how serious leisure horserace gambling is constituted, reconfiguring the study of it in processual terms, beyond the limits of the serious leisure perspective, as a duality which involves a backstage 'work' side and a front stage 'leisure' side. These terms offer both broader and more precise ways of speaking about the specificity of serious leisure horserace gamblers' practices and experiences of occupying social space. With this in mind, the thesis uses a combination of research techniques grounded in an ethnographic investigation which include direct observation, participant observation and semi-structured interviews, with 9 participants from West Yorkshire in the UK, to explore the ways in which they situate themselves as serious leisure horserace gamblers. The thesis excavates how this serious leisure practice is produced and reproduced, reflecting the opportunities offered by consumer culture and digital technology. By adopting this nuanced perspective of serious leisure which is more complex than existing discussions suggest, and by proposing a new understanding of leisure gambling in the light of a recommodified betting market, this thesis offers challenging and instructive insights into the possibilities of freedom and self-expression in vocational leisure when it is shaped by consumerism