Pulse
SIS: why 2025 is an opportune time to focus on Asia
By William - 2 January 2025
Previewing the year ahead, Paul Witten, Managing Director EMEA of Sports Information Services (SIS), discusses the company’s efforts in entering new markets, identifying key growth opportunities and exploring the impact of collaborations with technical service providers.
What markets is SIS targeting, and what opportunities do they present?
As a business with a global outlook, we see significant new opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe and are looking to further expand into Africa and Asia. This comes off the back of our North American growth, where we currently operate in ten states. We’ve made great strides in the US market through key partnerships, helping us bring our esports offering to a wider audience.
One of our biggest achievements was partnering with bet365, allowing us to introduce our extensive eBasketball and eSoccer portfolio to states like Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, and now North Carolina. These collaborations have really strengthened SIS’s presence, providing the high-frequency betting events that players are increasingly looking for in today’s fast-paced market.
In Latin America, as legislation evolves, we already have a solid presence in countries like Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Brazil – which, in particular, offer a tremendous opportunity for both operators and suppliers like us.
We are closely monitoring how Brazilian legislation will impact us, but as a fully compliant business, we will adhere to all relevant regulations. Additionally, we have made significant strides in Africa, operating in Kenya, Tanzania, and Ghana. There are promising prospects in Nigeria, and we have maintained a strong position in South Africa.
In Asia, regulated markets offer significant potential, especially for high-frequency products such as our fixed-odds live numbers draws. Although racing holds less cultural relevance in some regions, we are experiencing strong growth in both these categories and Competitive Gaming, reflecting the demand for dynamic, fast-paced entertainment options.
Moreover, our closer collaboration with technical service partners – such as Genius Sports, Playtech, Altenar and EveryMatrix – has enhanced our distribution capabilities, allowing us to integrate efficiently across multiple operators and access new customers faster.
How has partnering with these providers impacted the business so far and how significant do you anticipate their influence will be moving forward?
If we take the Genius Sports deal as an example, this has been a great step forward for SIS, giving us access to their vast network and allowing us to connect with hundreds of potential new customers. This partnership has helped us expand our reach and strengthen our presence in key markets with our Competitive Gaming offering.
For Genius Sports, our 24/7, high-integrity, short-form content adds real value to their partners by offering a constant stream of engaging betting opportunities, making the collaboration a win-win for both sides.
Our deal with Playtech has also created substantial opportunities. For instance, 91 per cent of retail shops in Spain now feature our Competitive Gaming product on terminals and screens. Leveraging Playtech as a technical distributor has allowed us to achieve impressive market coverage, and overall, the results have been very encouraging.
How do each of SIS’ product verticals relate to the various markets?
We have over 35 years of experience in racing and a global customer base, making it a substantial opportunity for short-form betting due to the abundance of content. Our 24/7 racing product features high-quality offerings but admittedly faces challenges in regions where traditional racing holds less appeal, such as parts of Africa, Central and Eastern Europe.
Despite these cultural challenges, we are seeing solid growth in racing across Latin America and have successfully expanded into further African markets. Racing remains a cornerstone of our portfolio, serving as a trusted and familiar entry point for many customers.
However, we are increasingly recognised for our focus on Competitive Gaming, supported by significant investments in delivering high-integrity products. Our eight concurrent streams of eSoccer and eBasketball have achieved remarkable success, particularly in regions where traditional racing holds less appeal. SIS Competitive Gaming is now leading our product portfolio in parts of Africa as well as Central and Eastern Europe.
Additionally, fixed-odds live numbers draws present a fantastic opportunity in the Asian market, where they are proving to be incredibly popular. While each product has its regional strengths, all are adaptable to varying degrees across different markets.
Why is now the right time for a focused push into Asia, a market SIS hasn’t pursued previously?
We operate as a compliant business, partnering only with licensed and regulated operators who meet our Know Your Customer requirements. Historically, Asia has presented challenges to suppliers, and we have found more opportunities readily available in other regulated markets.
However, the current climate makes it an opportune time to focus on Asia and explore how to enter that space successfully. The timing aligns with tightening legislation in markets across the region, allowing us to collaborate with partners who share our high standards.
How much do discussions with operators centre around margins?
Margin is typically a key topic in all our initial conversations with operators. Unlike casino products, which often have guaranteed returns and stability, sports and racing products carry inherent volatility that requires careful management. Margin is clearly an essential part of any operator proposition, especially given the current discussions around the global profitability of racing.
We are frequently engaging with operators to explore how we can make our racing offering more consistent in this regard. In Competitive Gaming, we maintain complete control over our product, as it is entirely produced in-house.
Our professional gamers, employed by SIS, compete in secure studios in the UK, ensuring the highest level of trust and transparency. This setup enables us to provide 24/7 betting content that bettors and operators can rely on.
This allows us to maintain margins and deliver operators a more consistent product, in turn providing an excellent opportunity to cross-sell to bettors interested in sports like football or basketball, increasing engagement on platforms and enhancing the overall betting experience.
What feedback has SIS received from operators regarding Competitive Gaming, and how are they integrating the offering into their sportsbooks?
One of our largest partners in the market is bet365, where Competitive Gaming has been integrated into both its basketball and live/in-play tabs. This is the route down which we see the most betting activity, as consumers who typically click on those tabs are eager for betting options.
When they see a recognisable format – played by skilled gamers and featuring world-famous names as characters within the streamed action – there is a clear and obvious appeal to the markets we offer to them, which very closely resemble those from within real-life equivalents.
By offering more live products in categories where there is limited competition in terms of live sporting action, we can capitalise on the demand for immediate betting opportunities. This strategy has proven to be highly successful for us.
What emphasis is SIS placing on derivative markets in racing, and how are they being leveraged to drive activity?
By offering a variety of markets, especially simpler ones, we can better attract consumers who are less immediately familiar with the sport. For instance, greyhound racing is ideal for this segment of customers because it features a consistent number of competitors and straightforward bet types, such as favourites or field bets. These markets perform particularly well in areas where racing isn’t traditionally popular.
In certain regions, derivatives make up a larger share of betting activity compared to traditional markets. Their simplicity and accessibility attract a broader range of bettors, helping operators boost engagement and increase turnover. Therefore, it is essential for us to continuously evolve and enhance our product offerings. Our goal is to simplify how we present racing to engage those who may not be familiar with it.
How has the creation of dedicated teams for new business initiatives enhanced collaboration and product expansion within SIS?
As part of our restructuring efforts, we have established a dedicated team for new business initiatives. In addition, we have a specialised unit focused on customer management that identifies growth opportunities with our existing clients.
We have achieved significant success in expanding the range of products offered to these customers and are working closely with them to identify potential growth prospects. While there is some overlap between the two teams, this strategy is proving effective, and we continue to make progress internationally across all our product divisions.
