March Madness retention ‘key’ for sportsbook operator success – Enteractive

With the number of US states legalizing online sports betting growing at a fast pace over the last year, including in New York, online gambling brands will be signing up thousands of new players during the college hoops extravaganza known as March Madness through 4th April.

According to a new survey from the American Gaming Association (AGA), more than 17 percent of American adults plan to wager $3.1 billion (€2.8 billion) on this year’s NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament.

However, CRM experts Enteractive say that retention of these new players will be key to maintaining growth in the current gold rush to build a loyal customer base.

“While iGaming operators like Caesars, FanDuel, DraftKings and more are spending large sums on promotion, marketing, and competitive odds to prompt high-speed growth as they enter these new markets in the US, they must keep a focus on retention of all those hard-won customers,” said Mikael Hansson, founder and CEO of Enteractive, a company which has provided loyalty and engagement services for the online gambling industry since 2009, contacting players on behalf of sports betting brands with highly effective personal one-to-one phone calls.

In 2022, with so many more states now offering legalized mobile sports betting, sportsbook operators can expect to see increased registrations from new customers around March Madness, but while this increased interest is good for business, successful growth will depend upon those new customers remaining active, rather than ‘churning’ after big events like the Final Four are over.

“There’s currently a gold rush in the U.S. sports betting market,” added Mr Hansson, “and the eventual winners will be those brands that engage with their customers and build relationships for the future. Every brand in this sector must keep a clear focus on all aspects of their offering, ensuring that all the hard work in getting to market, and the expense of customer acquisition is not quickly lost to lapsing relationships.”