US microbetting specialist Betr has signed a technology integration and media partnership deal with WagerWire.
What is WagerWire?
WagerWire is a sports betting marketplace developer which “empowers bettors to take control of their action and treat their bets as assets that can be bought and sold at any time.”
The company’s proprietary marketplace technology can be directly embedded into sportsbook apps, and is also available through WagerWire’s own app, which serves as an aggregated marketplace of bets across partner sportsbooks.
In addition, WagerWire also runs its own media network that generates sports betting content daily across a variety of social media.
Integration with Betr
Betr’s partnership with WagerWire is intended to further differentiate the operator’s product offering “in an industry inundated with commoditised products,” WagerWire said.
Having first launched with a laser focus on microbetting markets, earlier this year Betr integrated traditional core betting markets into its offering in order to bring its product closer in line with what its competitors offer in the US.
Now, the integration of WagerWire will position Betr “to vault ahead of the field by becoming the first to combine the trifecta of microbetting, traditional, and secondary markets,” the firm said in a statement.
In addition to the integration of secondary betting markets, Betr and WagerWire will also collaborate on new media projects, kicking off the partnership by co-producing their first original video series this year, with other projects still to follow.
Management commentary
“While secondary markets are commonplace for things like concert tickets, trading cards, and even fashion, it has yet to exist at scale in sports betting – until now,” said WagerWire co-founder and CEO Zach Doctor.
“We have great admiration for what Joey Levy, Jake Paul and the entire team at Betr have accomplished as both a gaming operator and media company.
“WagerWire’s technology creates a new category that supercharges the fan experience. Sports betting should be as fun and exciting as the sports themselves,” Doctor concluded.
Betr founder and CEO Joey Levy added: “We are excited to partner with the WagerWire team, who shares our perspective that there is a significant opportunity to enhance the sports betting user experience through product innovation.
“We are looking forward to integrating their technology into our new V1 sportsbook platform being built on top of the recently acquired Chameleon platform, which remains on track to go live next year.”
The deal will create a “first-of-its-kind” experience where bettors can buy and sell bets “on anything,” according to a release.
WagerWire, a marketplace that allows bettors to sell and buy active sports bets on its internal app as well as partner sportsbooks, has formed a tech partnership with Sparket, a B2B live event wagering software that lets users bet on traditional sports, esports and a wide range of other types of live events, the two companies announced Wednesday.
WagerWire’s tech will integrate into Sparket’s “bet-on-anything” platform. This allows secondary market trading for Sparket bets to be traded on WagerWire’s free mobile app, according to a release. The WagerWire app will launch later this year.
Combined with Sparket’s tech, users will be able to have more opportunities to leverage line movements and in-play momentum swings, WagerWire company officials said in a statement.
“WagerWire and Sparket are aligned on our journeys to bring new dimensions to the sports betting experience,” said Zach Doctor, co-founder and CEO of WagerWire, in a statement. “Sparket’s system allows for betting on new and interesting markets.
“Adding WagerWire means that each bet originated by Sparket will become a tradable asset. This partnership is going to pave the way to an entirely new era of betting.”
The deal also includes further social integration between the two companies.
“Combining forces with WagerWire creates powerful possibilities for our users,” said Aaron Basch, CEO of Sparket, in a statement. “The ability to flip in and out of bets gives our users more power and freedom over their wagers. For the first time in history, pari-mutuel markets will now become tradable after the event begins and the windows are closed.”
“This enhanced user experience takes Sparket to the next level and is already being eagerly anticipated by our partners.”
More company information
WagerWire launched in 2022 with investments from high-profile figures including Miami Marlins co-owner Roger Ehrenberg, former NBA all-star Richard Jefferson and Betr founder Joey Levy. WagerWire has partnerships with other growing gaming-industry companies including The Gaming Society and Quarter4.
Sparket provides extended content in traditional sports, eSports, live vents and other offerings through a community-based social platform. Its proprietary software adds content to partner firms to drive customer acquisitions and retention.
This also includes self-setting parimutuel odds designed to limit operator exposure and a system to crowdsource event data, per a company release. Sparket further offers partners customizable, free-to-play contests custom events and real-money wagering integrations.
The company has partnerships with Nevada-based Station Casinos as well as Cahuilla Casino Hotel.
Alternate betting types expand
The deal comes as an increasing number of companies look to build off the experiences offered by “traditional” sportsbooks.
Companies such as WagerWire as well as PropSwap allow bettors in the growing number of legal sports betting states to buy and sell already placed bets. New types of deals, such as WagerWire’s partnership with Sparket, will expand this to an even wider range of options.
Meanwhile, the nation’s first exchange wagering platforms, including Sporttrade and Prophet Exchange, have gone live. These offerings, which allow bettors to place bets in a manner similar to stocks, are common in Europe but are just starting to gain a foothold in the US. Companies such as MOJO are working to take this a step further, allowing bettors to buy or sell bets on the career trajectories of athletes.
Betr is one of the leading startups looking to further expand wagering options through its microbetting-focused platform, which launched in Ohio earlier this month and expects to be in more than a dozen states by year’s end. Instead of moneyline or pointspread bets, Betr exclusively offers wagers on more nice outcomes such as individual prop bets.
Established sportsbooks are also rapidly expanding their own betting options, especially around player props. Most major US sportsbooks have ramped up options for single-game parlay bets, which frequently include player props, and, not coincidently, have higher hold percentages.
Non-bettors were 78% more likely to bet online if they were educated on how to bet, a recent study found.
The study by open bet marketplace WagerWire and market research firm Leger discovered more than three-fourths of respondents cited a lack of education and understanding as the top reasons for not participating in sports betting. In the study, 43% of non-bettors said “they don’t feel like they know enough about sports betting” and 41% said “they don’t know enough about how to bet online.”
An additional 23% of the non-betting respondents said they aren’t betting because “they don’t know how or where to bet on sports.”
Zach Doctor, co-founder and CEO of WagerWire, said: “The data from our study clearly shows how a lack of adequate betting education is the greatest barrier to entry for would-be bettors. However, education is also the industry’s greatest opportunity to grow and expand.
“There is a notable impasse in the current sports betting landscape regarding operators pulling back on their promotional and marketing spend, while also striving to grow their user bases and gain market share.
“While promotions and free bets are flashy, basic betting education can be the formula needed to develop more confident, engaged, and responsible players that will result in a stronger, more sustainable industry,” Doctor said.
The study was completed between July 8 – July 21, 2022, including 500 US sports bettors and 200 non-sports bettors. WagerWire plans to release more information from the study in the coming months.
WagerWire CEO Zach Doctor: “While promotions and free bets are flashy, basic betting education can be the formula needed to develop more confident, engaged, and responsible players.”
WagerWire is the first start-up announced in the newly launched HPL Digital Sport and Cardinal Sports Capital Accelerator Program, according to a release. The company also recently announced its seed round led by Miami Marlins co-owner Roger Ehrenberg.
In announcing the first part of the study, WagerWire said it was curating “a growing community of content creators and social media followers” with the “resources, information and tips on how to bet” as well as use products such as its upcoming secondary marketplace.
WagerWire will co-sponsor an event with The Gaming Society, a content and gaming platform focusing on education as well as athletes’ perspectives on sports betting, at the 2022 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas later this month. Gaming Society founder Jaymee Messler and investor as well as NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett will preview a newly launched Betting Academy experience.
“We, at the Gaming Society, believe that by educating bettors we can build a stronger, more sustainable and responsible sports betting community,” said Messler in a statement. “The WagerWire team not only shares our vision but is already developing new strategies to integrate education into their new platform.
“Through our new partnership, we’ll unite both our platforms to build a larger community, create stronger data on bettor behavior and use that data and knowledge base to collaborate on new tools and content to continually empower the American sports bettor,” Messler said.