The dynamics of sports betting are changing and BetGames is well aware of this fact. That is why the company has teamed up with the Hybrid Sports League to launch a dedicated product, Twain Sport, which is designed to elevate the traditional sports betting experience by mixing the instant event format with real sporting action. But asked whether this new product may actually compete with mainstream sports, BetGames COO Aiste Garneviciene explains that this vertical can serve as a way to engage with customers and yes, perhaps amass its own loyal following

Twain Sport is a revolutionary product in the live sports betting space – how much of the product’s development was shaped by your experience in the industry and previous successes in product innovation?  

Innovation is in our DNA at BetGames and we hope we can bring that skill set to bear in our first-ever joint venture with the Hybrid Sports League to power Twain Sport’s launch. As it is the first collaboration of its kind that we’ve been involved in, we’re delighted to be supporting Twain Sport’s entrance into the market.

For us, it’s key to constantly seek out ways to challenge the market and innovate with unique entertainment for players. A key element of that is excellent execution, which has been key to our experience in the industry and our previous successes in entertaining players. After all, as they say, innovation without execution is just a hallucination! We know that to build complex projects you need far more resources across the board to call into action – whether that’s financial, human, intellectual, or physical resources. We’ve built a fantastic team to support this joint project and after more than a year’s work, it’s finally off the ground.

I’m confident this can offer fantastic potential for success – as one of the best cross-sellers in the industry between the casino and sports verticals, we know what sports fans demand when it comes to entertainment beyond the big matches. Of course, we know that’s a combination of live and virtual, so when someone asks me to introduce Twain Sport in a few words – I would say we’ve taken our last decade of experience at BetGames and merged it with the new sports created by the Hybrid Sports League to convert virtual sports into reality!

How much of an impact do you think Twain Sport will have on the betting landscape?

The fantastic thing about Twain Sport is that it brings the high-frequency events we know sports fans demand nowadays, just as they do with virtuals, esports or any of our live dealer products – and now, for the first time, that instant event format has been merged with real sporting action.

Starting with 14 hours of non-stop live sport daily, we’ve got basketball tipping off with 15 60-second matches per tournament, and 210 matches per day, in total that’s 6300 matches per month! This means we’ve got something for everybody – of course, sports fans who will enjoy it between games just as they do for virtuals or blackjack – and some, no doubt, will see it become a primary sporting event they can follow and become fans of! It offers amazing entertainment.

Looking at historical precedent, as a proud Lithuanian and a great fan of basketball (like all Lithuanians), we’ve seen 3×3 matches become an integral part of the Olympic basketball program. That, quite literally, went from being invented on street basketball courts just seven years ago to being a major following at the world’s most honored sporting event for athletes today. So, given that achievement, we’re certainly aiming high!

Do you think that sport of this nature will challenge the dominance of traditional sports betting? 

That it will challenge – no doubt. It’s certainly making its mark already with T-Basket’s season kicking off on August 1. It’s attracted huge interest from all of our tier-one partners – as well as plenty more inbound inquiries! After all, offering the first true evolution of high-turnover betting events into real, non-computer-generated tournaments is going to offer fantastic potential for entertainment and engagement like never before. Quite simply, it’s unique in what it offers.

However, we’re not here to challenge traditional sports, if there’s one major thing we’ve learned from the last few years, it’s all about complementing sportsbook spend, not taking from it. We didn’t launch Twain Sport to take on sportsbook, far from it, we’re here to offer boosted engagement.

 We’ve seen this last year during the Euros for example – it’s all about providing a product that can entertain players during wider bets on live sport that plays out over 90 minutes or more. Twain Sport, I believe offers that, just as we’ve seen with BetGames or indeed instant games, live casino or esports. We’re in the entertainment industry and it’s all about providing multiple channels of engagement for the modern generation of players – who never like to do just one thing at a time.  

Currently, the events take place in custom-built arenas without any spectators – can you envisage crowds eventually watching the action?

I have an extremely powerful imagination, so this question is easy to answer for me as I have already seen this view in my head million times and even more – crowds of fans in different-sized arenas across the different parts of the world! Yes, definitely, it is a must for the future!

We know how to deliver fixed odds and dynamic pricing, just as we do for the likes of our award-winning Bet on Poker with BetGames – having crowds, and indeed, fan favourites will offer an amazing addition to the betting narrative and one that can really drive player interest.

Given your experience over the last 10 years in offering casino and lottery products that complement live sport, how do you see this tying into the World Cup and other sporting tournaments? 

For us, we see that as part of an evolution of betting events for sports fans – our product portfolio has always been designed to be the perfect cross-sell between casino and sports verticals. This time we’re launching a sports-orientated product, in conjunction with the Hybrid Sports League, to fill the gap we see in the market for high-frequency betting events.    

We know sports fans, and we know how to complement sportsbook spend, so yes, for sure – just as we’ve always seen significant uplifts during sporting tournaments, we’ll be seeing the same here. Not only that, but this time also we’ll be offering a truly new type of action during sporting events. Twain Sport is quite literally, real, live sport in a format that can offer a turnover in 60 seconds.

As we have re-invented the live dealer vertical in the industry by offering simple, fast, innovative fixed-odds betting games with a twist, we are now doing the same again, but this time not alone and in the live sports betting industry. However, our target end-user remains the same – a sports bettor in this fast-paced era where a football match lasting 90 minutes seems too extensive to watch!

What does the future hold for Twain Sport? Where else can it go in terms of territories and new events? 

The Hybrid Sports League kicked off T-Basket on August 1st, so it’s all systems go from here! Starting with 60-second basketball with live events scaling to 14 hours of action daily, I’m sure there are plenty more things in store from the Hybrid Sports League! Given how the League itself prompts endless opportunities with its hybrid sports ethos this means its football-based T-Kick is next in line accordingly – with BetGames powering the betting overlay, I’m sure it’s going to be as successful as its mainstream basketball cousin and that we’ll be a great partner.

Looking ahead, I believe this offers the potential to be a fantastic collaboration, and we’re here to help support that. There are huge plans behind the scenes to expand the new events range significantly in 2023 and beyond. 

The goal of the entire project is to create more innovative and dynamic sports in the coming years that meet the demand for short-form live action we know modern sports fans are looking for. It’s all about providing content that can all form part of the entertainment mix, as, after all, the new generation is impatient and gets easily distracted during extended broadcasts.

Whatever format they bring, the one thing I can promise you is that with every new sports format created by the League, they’ll source the very best in professional athletes, who’ll be competing head-to-head to score the most points in 60 seconds.

Last but not least, talk us through your latest partnership with Sportradar – how do you see that shaping Twain Sport’s future development? 

As integrity must be a foundation of every sport ever created and enjoyed across the planet – yes, we’re not an exception! Teaming up with the best in the business is the seal of approval that the Hybrid Sports League and Twain Sport offer matches that are fair, safe and always played by the rules. Given we now have the same monitoring as the likes of UEFA the NBA or the NHL, I have no doubt that we’ll earn the confidence from every one of our operator partners that this is a fantastic product built on a solid bedrock of integrity.

Moreover, the partnership will include auditing the League, its rules and concepts, and monitoring every match played. So it is evident that everyone involved in the Twain Sport project is treating integrity as one of the highest priorities, eventually providing a secure environment for Twain Sport fans, our customers, and sports bettors.

In short, this means that Twain Sport will be protected with some of the world’s most advanced technology! For us, this is the final stamp of approval on what has been more than a year’s development in our support of the Hybrid Sports League.