7 ideas to increase interest in women’s football among bettors
The ongoing Women’s World Cup in soccer in Australia and New Zealand is a great opportunity to discuss the interest in women’s football among bettors. Changes should be implemented in a fundamental way, and the sooner operators can understand the shifts happening in today’s world, both in sports and business, the sooner they will reap the benefits in the form of expected financial returns. So, what can be done?
“Gambling is gender blind,” said Robert Błaszczak (CEO FeedConstruct) during a discussion panel dedicated to women’s sports at the iGaming Next conference in Malta a few weeks ago.
This statement perfectly captures the nature of most customers of bookmaker operators, for whom the main determinant is the offer and product proposed by the bookmaker.
Revamping the user experience for women’s sports events
Bookmakers should give more importance to properly showcasing the offerings related to women’s sports. Often, the offerings related to women’s sports are placed in completely different sections of the website than men’s sports.
During the peak of Bet365’s rise, their main focus, apart from technological development, was the availability of sports offerings at any time of the day and time zone. We could bet on even niche sports, and as a bettor, we didn’t feel that it was a weaker or lacking product. So why can’t women’s sports be treated the same way?
Increasing the number of periodic promotions
One of the easier ways to popularize a given discipline among bettors is to offer retention bonuses linked specifically to that discipline. Customers could receive special boosts, free bets, or deposit bonuses for including women’s sports on their betting slips.
This simple approach would directly impact the deposit amounts and potential later contributions to the company’s operating profit.
During the Women’s World Cup, there was minimal activity from operators in this field. Yet, by drawing an analogy with men’s sports, World Cups are among the best opportunities to attract new customers who might become regulars in the following months.
Increasing the availability of data
No company can function without access to data. In this case, we can divide it into two segments. One of them includes data provided by external companies to operators – such as odds, side event offerings, or match statistics that help better assess the final risk of accepted bets.
On the other hand, bettors themselves need access to data to know what they’re betting on. Of course, many bettors don’t analyze their events and often rely on odds (betting on favorites), and in the case of women’s sports, the name of a big male sports club can often be the only point of reference. Access to data allows undecided customers to take a closer look at the offerings related to women’s sports – in this case, women’s football.
Increasing the number of streaming options
Just as with match data, increasing the number of streaming options will positively impact interest in sports among bettors. Live betting is one of the fastest-growing segments in the bookmaking industry, aided by the development of mobile technology and access to fast internet.
In the absence of a specific offering for other sports, customers will likely be more interested in women’s competitions, especially if they see even a simple tracker indicating which team is currently attacking.
This would also create more opportunities for individual games and sports to be commercialized. Intermediary companies and bookmakers would gladly pay for access to an expanded streaming offering.
Expanding the betting options
Side bets, even on the most popular men’s and women’s matches, differ significantly. Players have fewer choices, for instance, when it comes to individual player achievements or specific match statistics like corner kicks or yellow cards.
Even minimal investments in expanding and equalizing the offerings with men’s sports could translate into increased interest in women’s sports.
Expanding marketing services to women’s teams and sponsorship activation
Many companies overlook the fact that when sponsoring men’s teams, it’s quite easy and cost-effective to expand the cooperation to the women’s section of the same club. This significantly increases brand awareness among the most dedicated customers and also among a completely new, untapped group.
The simplest methods would involve leveraging the images of women’s team players or sending marketing messages to the most engaged female section fans with dedicated offers or bonuses.
Promoting women’s sports industry-wide and fostering interest in iGaming among women
This is an aspect that can’t be developed in a short time frame. Increasing industry-wide awareness about the business opportunities that come from women’s sports should be a focal point of every industry conference and meeting. Women’s sports can tangibly contribute to a company’s profit, as shown in the examples above.
Increasing interest in iGaming among women would translate into a higher number of traders, product and marketing managers, diversifying the business approach and expanding the tools available when having qualified employees. This is why one of the missions of igamingexpress.com is to promote and equalize opportunities for women and men in the broader iGaming industry.
