Back when 888 bought out the struggling BetBright brand they had good reason for doing so. The £15 million it cost them might have seemed like money down the drain on the face of things, but there was a plan.
They were less interested in the brand itself (which has since ceased trading) and more interested in the creative team behind their ‘recommendation engine’ which had bagged them an award for innovation.
A few years later, and that same team has also created 888’s new sportsbook platform, known as The Spectate Platform, and as of today that platform is live.
Why did 888 Need a New Sportsbook Platform?
Far from being an expensive pet project, The Spectate Platform allows the company to take a more localised approach in the regions where they operate, and take their sports betting business 100% in house.
Not to mention the numerous improvements they have made to the user experience.
When speaking about their new platform back in October, CEO Itai Pazner said:
“There’s a lot of AI and personalisation, and it’s going to be a very fast and responsive product. We know how fast you are and how responsive your site is is extremely critical for sports bettors.”
Improved load times were a key area for 888 as was a more intuitive interface, as they attempt to rival the biggest sports betting firms in the UK where, as of 2020, just 36% of the group’s revenue was generated.
What’s more, that 36% accounts for revenue from all betting products, not just sports betting, so there is much room for UK growth in this area for 888.
Key features include:
- Personalised homepage
- Up to 2 x quicker
- Bet recommendations
- Next level horse racing betting
The change is seamless so existing customers will not experience any downtime or usability issues, and new customers can get stuck straight into all of the shiny new features.
888 have also recently launched their new poker app which has been in development for over 2 years, so they have had a very busy start to the new year.
888 and Kambi
For many years 888 Sports ran on the Kambi platform, and this served them well enough during that time, but relying on a third party for software and infrastructure services is always going to be more restrictive than running things in house.
The problem is, in house proprietary platforms are difficult and very expensive to build, not to mention that they take a long time.
888 are now in an enviable position though, and by leaving Kambi behind they take full control of their sports betting site and what it is capable of, as well as the betting features included, which they can add to as the years go on.
It will also save them money over time, since platform providers don’t offer their services for free, so Kambi’s bill is one major expense they no longer have to pay.