Can virtual sports really step up and fill the void?

It is often said that change is the only constant, and right now we are all undergoing huge changes to our daily lives.

Change also frequently means disruption and one of the industries hit hardest in recent weeks has been the sporting world, with hundreds of tournaments and fixtures cancelled or postponed.

We know this won’t be forever and we also know that our resilient industry, made up of savvy entrepreneurs and advanced technology, has the means to evolve and adapt.

One such area is virtual sports, which has evolved dramatically in the last 10 years and today uses some of the most state-of-the-art technology in the sports and gaming industries.

It is a vertical that produces some of the most dynamic and highly adaptable ‘always on’ games that players can engage with 24/7, no matter where they are in the world or what language they use.

Virtuals has always been the ideal product for sports bettors to play pre-real life events, to bet on at half time or to continue betting after a real match has ended. Therefore, with no ‘real’ sporting events planned for the coming weeks, the spotlight is firmly on products such as virtuals that can offer life-like entertainment and similar betting opportunities.

In addition, it offers zero risk management and is easy for operators to integrate and switch on.

In the 10 years we have been developing and delivering virtuals, our products typically make up between 3% to 5% of sportsbook revenue. However, in the last few days alone, we have seen this accelerate to as much as 10%, with European operators seeing increased demand for virtual football, horseracing and tennis.

The reality is that customers require a constant flow of on-demand and high-quality entertainment, whether events are on or off, and to secure their business operators are very quickly becoming more creative and promoting virtual sports as the ‘always on’ solution.

The most successful virtuals are built for betting first and the industry has made huge strides in technology and playability over the past decade. Initially based on hand-drawn 3D animations, now some of the biggest studios use high-tech motion capture technology to create the ultimate product.

This technology enables virtual sports suppliers to capture volumes of footage and transfer it to simulate the real-time movement of 3D characters. Many people compare this to playing a video game, but in my opinion, there is simply no comparison. Whereas you can visibly see the movement when a football player alters direction in a video game, the transition between a player’s motion is seamless within the leading virtual products. I believe that, sooner or later, you won’t notice whether a product is real or virtual, with natural movement perfectly replicated.

The other significant advance in virtuals has been the introduction of in-play and modelling in the same way as a real-life match. Look at tennis for example. Tennis is a ball-by-ball betting product, so we introduced two-to-three-hour matches complete with in-play options. Two years ago, it was all about pre-match betting, today it is all about live betting and who will win the next point.

Thanks to the advances in technology and gaming, virtual sports has the ability to extend user sessions and increase site visits. And as the concept of anytime, anywhere mobile technology continues to advance and increase, so too does the potential of virtual sports in adding more value to a sportsbook, particularly during times like these.

Frank Wenzig, director, gaming, joined the organisation in October 2010 as associate director of product management after Sportradar acquired Aitainment, which became Sportradar’s virtual sports division. He assisted an initial team of 12 in the unit’s main base in Bremen, developing the virtual sports meets sports betting strategy that exists today. He previously worked as a software engineer before spending 11 years in IT consulting and project management, working with a number of high-profile organisations from major food to automobile brands.