Royal Panda joins Oddschecker grid for sportsbook push
LeoVegas-owned casino firm pledges low overrounds and industry-best prices in bid for new customers
Royal Panda, the online casino firm acquired by LeoVegas last year, has joined the Oddschecker grid as part of a strategic push to build up the sports part of the business.
The firm joined the grid this week and has pledged to be best priced on all England games Brazil’s group games throughout the tournament.
It is also best priced on Uruguay and Spain today, with the firm’s head of sports Richard Fox telling EGR: “No sportsbook seems to win on the group games in the World Cup, so we thought why not make it a loss-leader and lose an extra 1-2% to acquire customers.”
The strategy appeared to pay off for the opening game of the tournament at least, with Royal Panda best priced on Russia and gleaning 3% off all bet slip clicks on the game via Oddschecker, the same percentage as Paddy Power, BetVictor and Coral.
Royal Panda first launched its BetConstruct-powered sportsbook in July last year, and said it had been “blown away” by the level of success.
“Obviously our company-wide handle is still dominated by casino, but its getting closer ever month,” Fox said.
The newfound focus on pricing and acquisition is an internal decision rather than anything to do with LeoVegas, with the Scandinavian firm not taking full strategic control of the company until later this year.
Oddschecker’s Ant Haynes added: “Oddschecker is very pleased to welcome Royal Panda to the odds grids. Historically an online casino-led brand, Royal Panda are very keen to make a splash in the UK sports betting market and there’s no better place to do so than via Oddschecker given our reach and unrivalled traffic.
“Their introduction is particularly pertinent with the World Cup starting, and both parties have worked quickly to ensure that Royal Panda enjoy the full benefits of Oddschecker exposure during what is likely to be the biggest betting event of all time.”