Back when some of us were young, we caught the tail-end of the career of a giant of the British entertainment scene called Max Bygraves. Max was a huge comedy and singing star, and in his later years, host of still-popular gameshows such as Family Fortunes.
Art this point, you are probably wondering what this has got to do with B2B gambling?” The answer is algorithms. According to the algorithms, storytelling is ‘the new black’ and if your content tells a story, you are onto a winner.
Max Bygraves, having enjoyed a career spanning six decades, is remembered by those who know for his iconic catchphrase… “I wanna tell you a story…”
When two worlds collide
This is the story of two guys, from different worlds, who came together by chance to create what is fast becoming the ‘SAS’ of sports betting and iGaming.
In English football, ‘SAS’ means Shearer & Sheringham (Euro 96) but here in our world, ‘SAS’ means Steve & Santiago, creators of the ground-breaking Playbook Fusion.
Virtual Sports Leader
Steve Rogers, a Chartered Management Accountant, entered the sports betting and gaming industry by accident. In the 1990s, he was Financial Director at RedVision, a CGI developer based in Manchester, England, serving the film and television industries.
Having developed a ‘mock race’ for Aintree Racecourse, home of the Grand National, this unique CGI development caught the eye of what was then Leisure Link and is now Inspired Entertainment. In a joint venture, RedVision developed ‘virtual’ horse and greyhound races as a new sports betting option.
“It was a classic case of being in the right place at the right time,” says Steve, reflecting on the early 2000s when virtual sports began to gain serious traction.
Inspired absorbed RedVision in 2006, leading Steve to key roles as Chief Operating Officer in the new Virtual Sports business unit, and then Chief Commercial Officer.
Over the next 18 years, he grew the division to serve more than 20 countries, earning multiple industry awards and generating over £55 million in annual revenues.
And then he had a chance meeting with a guy called Santiago, in an airport lounge…
Video Game Visionary
Santiago Jaramillo spent over a decade at Electronic Arts (EA). As Creative Director for EA Sports’ FIFA franchise, he honed his skills in player engagement and retention. Subsequent roles at Dapper Labs and Scopely further expanded his expertise in creating compelling digital experiences, culminating in his involvement with the world’s top-grossing mobile game, Monopoly GO!
These two leaders from supposedly different areas of digital entertainment, randomly thrown together and with time to spare whilst waiting for airplanes, quickly identified one area of common ground, content strategy.
Santiago explained to Steve that video game development is about creating ‘stickiness’, player loyalty and retention, with the objective of “keeping them wanting.”
This casual conversation proved to be a ‘Eureka Moment’ for Steve Rogers.
Loyalty & Retention
Loyalty and retention have long been challenges for gambling operators. A focus on player acquisition has often neglected the importance of keeping them engaged. By contrast, video games prioritize retention, with commercial models built around in-game purchases and long-term engagement.
The video game industry has shifted from hardware and even software sales to retention-based models, where the real profit lies in keeping players engaged and making in-game purchases.
Successful video games offer progression and ownership, enticing players to invest time and money.
Playbook Fusion is born
Recognising how players of video games enjoy the feeling of ‘ownership’ and pitting their skills against others in a global community, Steve wanted to take that same desire for ‘connective tissue’ and community into the sphere of gambling.
Santiago provided the experience of ‘AAA’ creative video game development that if married with proven gambling industry expertise and success could produce a new category of sports-themed products. And not only did Steve Rogers believe this passionately, but he also knew that he wanted to give up the safety of a successful and secure C-level career to bring this vision to fruition.
Steve says: “The unique experience within the team from the worlds of video gaming and gambling means we are going to create an entirely new content vertical that will take player engagement to the next level.”
And for Santiago, standing at the confluence of gaming innovation and sports betting is a thrilling prospect: “We are bringing together top talent from complementary industries to carve out a new niche in betting platforms that will transform passive interactions into engaging gaming experiences, setting a new standard for what players can expect.”
Playbook Football: Persistent, gamified betting
Their first product is Playbook Football, a football strategy betting game that enables players to build their own team, enter matches, receive in-game rewards and climb leagues over a season.
At its core is persistent, gamified sports betting, with players making strategic decisions on how they manage their squad, providing a strong ‘connective tissue’ with their teams and the game.
A persistent gameplay experience produces a powerful sense of progression, improving engagement and site visit metrics compared to traditional fantasy or virtual sports products.
Daily play rewards, cumulative betting spend rewards and rewards for progression through divisions incentivise players to continually improve their squads and play the game.
In addition to margins from in-play betting, Playbook Football offers operators the opportunity to generate additional revenue through the purchase of in-game currency.
This combination of team building strategy, betting at the core, compelling and constantly refreshed content ideas and evergreen experience of innovative game design and live operating practices places Playbook Football in a category all of its own.
Total Authenticity: Twenty First Group
By partnering with sports data scientists Twenty First Group (TFG), Playbook Football integrates into TFG’s football intelligence engine to incorporate insights on up to 100,000 football players worldwide. This enables gameplay decisions to be informed by real-world football events.
The game uses in-depth data from the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Liga Portugal, Brazil Serie A, Saudi Pro League, MLS and more, boosting engagement by allowing players to apply their knowledge of live sports within a gaming environment.
One Year On
Playbook Fusion celebrated its first anniversary with the launch of Playbook Football. The game is set to roll out across multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Ontario and Nigeria, through aggregation partner Games Global.
With ongoing analysis of player data, a continual roadmap of updated features will be added. In addition, a range of further iterations of Playbook Football will be released, including World Cup 2026, Matchday and a Crash variant.
Licensing applications are ongoing in Ontario, Romania, Greece, Sweden, Peru and Denmark and, of course, the development of Playbook X, the next sport, is already underway.
The target player audience is already in the digital sports betting ecosystem, as a fan who bets on real sports, virtual sports of fantasy sports. Drawn to the blend of the real and virtual worlds, they are dynamic, technologically literate enthusiasts who crave greater engagement.
Playbook Fusion sees the worlds of sports betting and video gaming collide in an entirely new genre of immersive, sports-themed games for operators around the world.
This unique fusion of skill-based gaming and mobile/online betting is something the industry has never before seen, and not for nothing do the gaming industry’s new ‘SAS’ say, “The Game is about to Change!”
Check out the Playbook Football demo HERE
