Bringing esports and traditional sports together

GG.BET is an international betting brand with a presence in the UK, Europe and Asia. The company operates under the GG.BET brand and is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, Antillephone NV (Curaçao), the Malta Gaming Authority and Ukraine’s Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries.Platforms operating under the GG.BET brand accept bets on over 30 different esports, as well as traditional and virtual sports. The betting brand offers up to 400 matches and 350 markets on events per day. The brand is actively involved in developing esports by supporting international tournaments, sponsoring streams and creating esports content with famous analysts, casters and influencers. Since 2020, it has been a title partner of the esports club NAVI, and as of 2022, it has also been a partner of esports club Team Vitality’s CS2 roaster.

EGR: How does your traditional sports betting product compare to your esports betting offering in terms of player numbers, etc?

Dmytro Voshkarin (DV): Although GG.BET is particularly known for specialising in esports, every platform operating under the brand also offers a wide selection of bets on traditional sports like football, tennis, basketball and so on. How popular these sports are can vary depending on region and various cultural factors. For example, on a website catering for a European audience, 40% of the bets placed are sports bets. In Ukraine alone, this increases to 77% of bets, representing 75% of the total stake of bets placed on the platform.

EGR: Do you see much cross-sell between the two?

DV: Yes, there is significant overlap between the interests of these two audiences. Many experienced esports bettors will get drawn in by major sports events like the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship or high-profile boxing matches featuring their favourite fighters. In Ukraine, around 70% of those who bet on CS2 and Dota 2 also place bets on football. Of the Dota 2 and CS2 audience, 27% like betting on basketball and around 20% on boxing.

EGR: What makes GGBET UA’s sportsbook attractive to customers and what do they demand of a bookmaker?

DV: Users are attracted to GGBET UA’s modern and user-friendly interface and its ability to adapt to their interests with personalised offers and a curated events feed, ensuring an exceptional user experience. We offer bets on more than 40 traditional sports and are continually expanding the options available, including for less common sports like cricket, socket (a mixture of football and cricket) and Australian football. We’ve really got something for everyone. Plus, our traders work hard to provide unique markets for our customers. For instance, our users can now place bets comparing the results in parallel matches, which presents a new challenge even for experienced bettors.

EGR: Which traditional sports disciplines are top tier in terms of popularity and revenue?

DV: There’s no question that football dominates in terms of popularity and revenue. It accounts for 45% of the total amount wagered on GGBET UA. This is hardly surprising, since football is the most popular sport in the world and has an enormous Ukrainian fan base. We used sponsorship of broadcasting Euro 24 matches on the Ukrainian streaming service MEGOGO, so we were able to prominently promote our brand to a wide audience in Ukraine, attract new users and maintain high activity throughout the entire football tournament.

Tennis takes second place with an 18% share, which is down to the sport’s global popularity and homegrown stars like Elina Svitolina. Basketball comes third with 14%, just ahead of table tennis on 13%. Basketball is especially popular among fans of the NBA and 3×3 streetball, attracting users with play that’s dynamic and easy to follow. Volleyball rounds off our top five with 6% of the total bets placed.

Of course, these figures vary from month to month depending on the season and when the big tournaments and matches are on. This level of variety highlights the different interests of our users and helps us diversify our product. We’re working on expanding and improving our offering so that every sports fan can find something new and exciting on GGBET UA.

EGR: What insights do you glean on the behaviour of each audience, both esports bettors and traditional sports bettors?

DV: This is the key question. Without an understanding of how your audience behaves, you have no chance of putting together a successful product. Overall, players who are betting on esports are usually younger and more technologically minded. They tend to go for dynamic live bets on individual matches, using various strategies based on an in-depth knowledge of the game and player statistics.

On the other hand, customers placing bets on traditional sports are more often looking at long-term predictions and placing bets on major events and the teams they like. But recently, there has been a trend of growing interest in esports from experienced sports bettors. Users are attracted by the dynamism and unpredictability of esports, as well as the opportunity to try out new strategies.

Understanding these differences means we can personalise offers and features to suit the preferences of each audience. This in turn increases user satisfaction and retention and reduces acquisition costs, which is one of the conditions of operating a successful business.

EGR: The GG.BET brand operates under a Curaçao and Malta licence and has recently entered Ukraine and the UK. Do you have plans for further expansion or are you concentrating on cementing these markets?

DV: In 2023, the brand expanded its global operations and our priority now is to consolidate these new markets. This means remaining active in the esports niche: organising events for fans, creating unique content in collaboration with influencers and global media and sponsoring esports broadcasts worldwide and in Ukraine. In other words, we are enhancing the quality and level of audience engagement. It also means focusing our efforts on the sports that are most popular. In May, for example, we sponsored the Ukraine broadcast of the epic Fury versus Usyk fight, increasing our user activity for the day by 157% and the number of bets by 73%.

EGR: Do you think there needs to be more product innovation in sports betting?

DV: Users today are very demanding. They expect an up-to-date product interface and the constant introduction of new features. There’s no rest for us when it comes to innovation. As a bookmaker, if you want not only to retain your audience but also to attract new users and stay ahead of the competition, then you have to find ways to integrate new events, expand your sportsbook and offer new features.

We’ve got a whole series of innovations in the works; things like personalised offers based on user data, the addition of non-standard markets and improvements to make our mobile apps more user-friendly. But introducing new tech is only part of the mission. If you want to ensure your users stick with you, then it’s just as important to keep up high-quality standards and exceptional service.

EGR: What are GG.BET’s plans beyond the end of this year to continue to gain ground in esports and the wider betting industry?

DV: In terms of traditional sports, our team are getting ready for the 2024 Summer Olympics. In esports, we’ve got the autumn series of Counter-Strike 2 BLAST Premier to look forward to. We like to put out personalised offers for every event and organise online and offline activities for our audience. All the latest news and announcements are available on our official Instagram and X pages. Follow us to get involved and stay up to date!

Dmytro Voshkarin is CEO of GGBET UA, responsible for the strategic development of GGBET UA. He has over eight years of experience in betting and building effective business processes and fully understands the intricacies of online platforms and the creation of high-quality digital products. Voshkarin has honed his talents to become a visionary of esports for the Ukrainian betting market.