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Sportradar, a global company providing innovative products such as data analytics, compliance and integrity services, has just released an important report on AI, which points to the tool as a key to success for betting house operations focused on growth from of emerging technological solutions. The report “AI – Shaping sports betting in the future” is available in Portuguese.
The company highlights the growth of the sports betting segment and points out that the future will be even more promising. “The market, valued at US$76.75 billion in 2021, is expected to jump to US$167.66 billion in 2029 — registering average annual growth (CAGR) of an impressive 10.26% in this period. The popularization of betting apps, the commercialization of sporting events and the rapid expansion of the North American market are among the factors that have favored the growth of the sector,” points out Sportradar.
For the company, “in this already challenging market, a behind-the-scenes trend is emerging that promises to revolutionize the future of sports betting: the advent of artificial intelligence.”
With an eye on this future, many bookmakers are already moving forward in adopting AI technologies in their day-to-day business. Increasingly, they are relying on complex AI models to optimize their operations, boosting business and transforming the reality of all players in the market.
“But what are the possibilities brought by these technologies? How to take advantage of them? And what does it take to develop and implement them?” asks Sportradar in its detailed report.
This article seeks to answer these questions, in addition to reinforcing the increasingly important role to be played by artificial intelligence in sports betting. Of the companies that use it, they say that at least 5% of their pre-tax profits are attributable to AI.
Despite its initially timid advances, AI has been gaining momentum in recent years. Today, its various aspects – such as Machine Learning, deep learning and computer vision – are present in the most varied sectors.
“When talking about artificial intelligence, many imagine a distant future; a scenario taken from science fiction. But in reality, AI is no longer a thing of the future – it is already a reality,” guarantees Sportradar.
The use of artificial intelligence has proliferated rapidly in recent years. In 2015, only 10% of companies reported already using AI or having plans to use it in the future. In 2019, this percentage tripled. Present in 37% of organizations, AI has expanded by 270% in just four years.
With the current acceleration in the pace of adoption, the global AI market is expected to grow by a massive 38.1% per year until 2030. One of the main factors driving this growth is the increasing perception of the possibilities brought by AI to business. In all sectors, AI has positively impacted company results.
With the rapid advancement of AI, the most innovative sports betting houses are already starting to adopt the technologies in their operations. And, given their wide range of potential applications, AI technologies promise to become an essential part of operators' repertoire.
Big impact on the betting sector
The success of AI in other sectors can, by logical conclusion, be replicated in the management of sports betting houses, as it is a data-intensive sector. In fact, operators are already beginning to wake up to the potential of AI.
According to a survey carried out by Sportradar with bookmakers in several countries, 71% believe that AI and ML technologies will have a major impact on the betting sector.
However, half have not yet incorporated artificial intelligence capabilities into their operations. Whatever the reasons, there is one certainty: Operators who do not keep up with technological trends run the risk of being left behind in an increasingly fierce market. To understand the importance of AI, it is necessary to know how its algorithms have revolutionized the sports betting sector.
Risk management - According to data from Sportradar, operators point to risk management as being the area with the greatest potential for using AI and ML. This is because these technologies allow to generate more assertive and granular odds in real time. With its self-learning capabilities, AI analyzes historical data with sophisticated algorithms, giving operators a better sense of the probability of a given event occurring.
Computer vision - With the automated, fluid and non-invasive collection of data, made possible by computer vision, sports betting houses can optimize their risk tolerance. This is not about using computer vision directly in trading – the value of CV is in the information it provides.
According to Luka Pataky, director of computer vision product at Sportradar, risk managers can use this information to improve their trading activities. “Imagine, for example, a tennis match that went into the deciding set,” explains Pataky. “If we just look at past performance and scores, we would conclude that the favorite would win, right? However, there are other nuances to consider." Computer vision is able to identify latent data points that could influence the outcome of the match, such as an injury, discomfort or fatigue. With this information, it is possible to detect performance patterns. "It may be that an experienced bettor will be able to identify these situations. In this case, they will have an advantage over the operator who does not have this information."
Bettor attraction and retention - Operators identify bettor acquisition and retention as the second area where AI and ML technologies will have the greatest impact. According to Jay Kanabar, operational director at VAIX, a pioneering company in the development of AI systems for the gaming sector, there are two applications that stand out:
1 – Personalization
2 – Bettor profiles
Integrity - AI has been widely adopted in the detection of fraud in sectors such as banking, insurance and e-commerce, and is in the adoption phase in the betting sector – especially in activities to combat money laundering and identify behavior of dependence on gaming. The pioneering adoption of AI in Sportradar's Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS) has played a key role in enabling its Integrity Services to detect and report suspicious activity to sports federations. The reality is that the application of these technologies in the UFDS was the great enabler of Sportradar's monitoring service, offered free of charge to more than 150 partners in the sports sector.
The launch of Sportradar's Integrity Exchange also had this commitment and investment as a key part.
Tom Mace, global director of integrity services, believes that this technology will be the new standard in monitoring in the coming years: “The threat of match-fixing is always present and constantly evolving. We have been recording a record number of suspicious departures each year and, with an ever-increasing number of departures to monitor, we are always investing in technology to improve quality and efficiency – something that is absolutely essential.”
Business intelligence - In an increasingly competitive betting market, the greater the operator's differentials, the better. To stand out from the competition, the operator must make use of the insights brought by artificial intelligence. Advanced AI models – whether ML, deep learning or computer vision – make it possible to translate large volumes of data into valuable information for business, leveling the playing field for operators of all sizes. Bookmakers now use this information in all areas of their operations, from budgeting and trading to marketing and financial projections. It is worth highlighting that this data does not need to be obtained through manual processes – AI automates its collection, translation and visualization.
Future perspectives
With rapidly increasing adoption and new innovations emerging daily, AI technologies will be present in almost every aspect of the industry in the near future.
The global artificial intelligence market is expected to grow by almost 40% annually between 2022 and 2028. As it is one of the most impactful and disruptive technologies in recent times, it is expected that an increasing number of sectors will adopt the AI exploring the vast possibilities it offers. And with the increasing realization of the value added by AI and ML models for sports betting operators, a profound transformation of the sector in the coming years is a certainty.
According to Andrej Bratko, director of AI and BI technology at Sportradar, almost all areas of bookmaker management will be impacted by artificial intelligence. According to him, "AI technologies will contribute to making bookmakers increasingly efficient. And I believe that the future result of this for the bettor will be a better price and less friction in the betting process.”
Other branches of AI are also bringing technological advances to sports betting houses. With the installation of increasingly sophisticated cameras in stadiums, computer vision models will be able to offer unprecedented insights into bettor behavior.
Sportradar also details numerous features of the technology and the possibilities that can still be explored by bookmakers.
Source: GMB
