Betting & Affiliates

How Sportsbooks Use Opta Data To Make Major Tournaments More Entertaining

Stats Perform

~ 7 min read

How are sportsbooks and affiliates using our Opta Betting Feed service to make Euro 2020 and Copa America more entertaining?

We review how the world’s leading sportsbooks are making betting on these showpiece events more entertaining using Opta’s shots, passes and tackles.

We’ll be updating this article throughout Euro 2020 and Copa America. Keep checking back for the best trading, UX, and marketing examples powered by the world’s most trusted sports data.

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Pre-tournament case studies In-tournament case studies

Pre-tournament case studies

trading innovation

What have Sky Bet done?
Allow customers to request unique player stats-based markets like shots, passes and tackles ahead of the tournament.

What experience does this create?
Major tournaments bring the best players to the world stage, Sky Bet allow bettors and football fans to curate a highly personalised player performance-orientated sports betting experience. Using Opta’s vast historical databases allows Sky Bet to confidently price up these type of options and creates a unique way for bettors to enjoy the tournament making every shot, tackle and pass from players matter.

MARKETING THAT DELIGHTS

What have PaddyPower done?
Engage top goalscorer bettors with free bets for every player shot on target throughout Euro 2020.

What experience does this create?
The top goalscorer market generates attention from bettors and sportsbooks often find themself competing on price. PaddyPower’s unique promotion provides bettors with tournament-long interest (and rewards) if their chosen player performs at their peak and goes deep into the tournament.

UNIQUE BETTING MARKETS

What have Betfair done?
Generate excitement in the countdown to the tournament and ask bettors whether Lukaku will have his shooting boots on?

What experience does this create?
Creating tournament-long interest in a players performance keeps bettors immersed even if their home nation exits the tournament early. Betfair use our Opta Player Stats Tracker in their marketpages to help bettors track player performance in every match. Our Stats Tracker updates in near real-time providing a frictionless in-play betting experience – no other match visualisation provides as much detail as quickly.

fRICTIONLESS ux

What have Ladbrokes done?
Display historical stats such as shots on target, passes, tackles and more in their pre-match market pages to help bettors make informed decisions.

What experience does this create?
Giving bettors the tools to make informed betting decisions is vitally important. Ladbrokes have developed a very intuitive pre-match team and player stats centre, powered by Opta data. This transitions as the game goes in-play allowing bettors to see how their picks are progressing over the course of a match.

new betting thrills through player stats

What have Ladbrokes done?
Opened up their unique Opta data-driven 5-A-Side product to their customer base to enjoy for free during Euro 2020.

What experience does this create?
Fans follow players over teams – even more so at international tournaments. Ladbrokes unique player-focused betting product, 5-A-Side asks bettors to select a formation, select a team of 5 players and select how they might perform in a match. Think shots on target, tackles, passes and more. Sports betting trade publication, SBC News recently put the Opta data powered innovation under the microscope.

attention grabbing marketing campaigns

What have Squawka done?
Tie a players performance during Euro 2020 to the boots they wear to help fans understand which boots reign supreme.

What experience does this create?
Opta data is renowked for its accuracy and objectivity. Opta data’s key strength is the ability to provide in-depth, accessible data that is consistent across the globe. Without this certainty, our player and team statistics can be far less valuable and there would be a danger that different leagues would be analysed in conflicting ways, rendering proper player comparison invalid. You can review our event definitions here.

By using Opta data Squawka is able to definitively crown the best boots at Euro 2020.

In-tournament case studies

APPEALING BETTING MARKETS

What have bet365 done?
Offer bettors the over and under across all their player and team performance betting markets (shots, shots on target, passes, tackles and offsides).

What experience does this create?
While more complex from a trading and pricing perspective, allowing bettors to take a position on either side of the market provides a richer betting experience. bet365 rely on accurate, objective Opta data to price and settle these markets.

trading innovation

What have Sky Bet done?

G.O.A.T combines a range of players and their actions within a match into a unique, memorable, same-game-multi:

Who is likely to score a Goal?
Which player will record an Offside?
Which player will make 1+ Assist?
Who will make a successful Tackle?

What experience does this create?

By branding the ready-made accumulators in a memorable way, Sky Bet provides bettors with a fun way to make a quick betting decision, which has great potential for social media capital. It also helps bettors less confident with building their own bet to pick from ready-made selections.

Sports betting trade publication, SBC News recently reviewed these unique betting markets as part of their innovation report series examining football player props.

COMPETITION AMONG BETTORS FOR PLAYER PERFORMANCE PICKS

What have Ladbrokes done?
Created a live leaderboard for all participating 5-A-Side players based on how their bet is performing.

You can watch a promo video explaining the new feature here.

What experience does this create?
All 5-A-Side players are automatically added to a match leaderboard. The player with the highest odds and the most completed bet based on how the players they chose are performing in the match has the opportunity to win additional prizes beyond their original bet payout. The live leaderboard is powered by Opta data, and provides bettors with a up-to-the-second view of how their bet is progressing and where they stand versus other bettors.

RECORDS BEING BROKEN, TRACKABLE IN REAL-TIME WITHIN THE MARKETPAGE

What have William Hill done?
Allow bettors to track highly granular performance data, such as passes for each team and player on the pitch

What experience does this create?
Spain’s first match at Euro 2020 could have been a dull affair. However, backers of over passes for Spain would have relished the match. On their way to breaking a 30+ year passes in a single match record for a match at the European Championships. Bettors at William Hill could see this record being broken in real-time, with updates for every player being visualised in our Player Stats Tracker, powered by Opta data.

trading & UX innovation

What have Sky Bet done?
Collate in-play player-stat based specials for every Euro 2020 match

What experience does this create?
Sky Bet’s experience in player prop markets means they deeply understand the interest and excitement that these markets bring to the matchday bettor experience. Combining Stat-based specials into an easy-to-find part of their sportsbook, with aligned insights and live statistic tracking alongside the latest pricing is a powerful and enticing combination.

trading innovation

What have Unibet done?
Created a range of unique player and team stats-based betting markets for matches throughout the Euros

Player shot that hits the post or crossbar
Team shots markets tied to outrights
Player shot and shot on target H2H markets

What experience does this create?
Unique betting markets help operators stand out and provide bettors with memorable sports betting experiences and adds new levels of entertainment for how fans follow the game. Every shot heading in the post or crossbar’s direction takes on new meanings. Every pass to your chosen player over his teammate, matters more. The result of a match that may have otherwise been too shortly priced can become considerably more appealing when combined with a teams chances quality.

UX innovation

What have Betfair done?
Combine #OddsOnThat markets for individual players into an easy-to-find list

What experience does this create?
Superstar players command considerable attention from fans around the world. Their ability to change games on their own means there is considerable interest in markets that talk to their ability to shine.

trading innovation

What have BoyleSports done?
Offer a range of live player statistics-based markets with a wide range of ‘Overs’ bands to choose from

What experience does this create?
Providing bettors choice on betting markets is an area where sportsbooks can stand out and win share of mind. With player markets powered by Opta data featuring so prominently across sportsbooks at Euro 2020 and Copa America, standing out on the choice available for bettors is an effective approach. The live totals alongside the markets also helps bettors make faster, more confident decisions when every second in-play counts.

ENGAGING SOCIAL MARKETING

What have Betfair done?
Stats-based quizzes leveraging platforms-baked in engagement tools are quick and easy ways to drive engagement with football fans

What experience does this create?
The performance of players and teams at major tournaments (and season-long competitions) attract considerable attention. Leveraging these performances into easy-to-participate quizzes is a quick and easy way for a sportsbook to test their audiences knowledge (and cross-promote the unique betting markets that they are offering).

trading innovation

What have Unibet done?
Taken into account the risk of extra time in knockout matches at Euro 2020 into their markets offering.

What experience does this create?
With the majority of betting markets being settled within the 90-minutes, adding potential Extra Time gives bettors a safety net for their chosen picks.

SOCIAL-PROOF MARKETING

What have Ladbrokes done?
Celebrate customer success on their product to educate new customers on how it works

What experience does this create?
Betting on player performance is a relatively new concept. It is however a concept that has ignited the football betting sector over the last few years. Providing examples on how customers have won bets , makes it easier for new bettors to understand how they might make player selections for a match.