“Sportradar will unveil its improved Virtual Gaming offering at ICE 2016”

What products are you presenting at the upcoming ICE Totally Gaming?

This year’s ICE offers us at Sportradar a great platform to present some new products and services that we are sure will be adding value to all betting operators, no matter their size, focus or location. Our marquee focus is our eSports products, which will enable betting operators, whether they offer eSports already or not, to take their own offering to their customers to the next level. Our data services, our streaming solutions, our live odds, together or not, offer a menu of value-generating opportunities that will attract and retain a swathe of new bettors. Keeping things computer-generated, we will be unveiling our improved Virtual Gaming offering, which now includes the only basketball product in the market. We really came at Virtual Gaming with a completely differnet approach – looking to mirror, recreate or adapt all the characteristics of traditional sports and competitions that make them so engaging. Others are cottoning on, but we remain steps ahead and our broad suite of sports and markets are evidence of that. And that is the tip of the iceberg.

What will be the highlights of this year's edition of the London exhibition? What are your expectations for the show?

The thing about ICE that makes it so exciting is it is difficult to predict what to expect: which stand will change things up, which company will bring along some exciting VIP guest visitors, which service provider will bring something extraordinary to the market. Our stand at S1-150 will remain one of the key locations to visit at some point during the three days and we have upped the amount of seating space and screens to really give attendees the chance to visit, put their feet up, network or take in the full range of services we now provide. We are bringing so much to our stand this year – whether brand new products such as World Numbers Service or Mythical Sports, or updated packages such as our Virtual Gaming offerings, there will something for every operator.

What's your strategy to continue to gain market share in Europe?

When it comes to sports betting in Europe, we already have the most enviable market share available. But Sportradar lives the values of its co-founder Carsten Koerl and we are always looking to spot new opportunities, uncover new collaboration possibilities, recognize overlaps and untapped ideas. While we may be a giant of the industry, having now reached over 1,300 staff spread out across over 30 offices, in some ways we retain the nimbleness of a start-up. We will continue to build and secure our reputation as market-leader by doing what we already do in a credible, fast and reliable way, but supplementing that with the chance for operators to explore new value propositions with a name they already trust.

What are the strengths of the European market and where do opportunities lie?

The European market is a sophisticated and developed market, and to the untrained eye, may appear saturated or stagnant. We don't share that view. We continue to see opportunities in new markets, particularly in the East of Europe. Also operators continue to come to us, asking us what else we can apply our expertise to. Our Managed Trading Services is one such area. Operators are looking at different risk management opportunities to mitigate some of their risk – some look for that support in key sports, some in the lesser sports and leagues; some look for risk sharing while others want to complete offload their risk. Being flexible and being responsive are the key to unlocking opportunities, even in Europe let alone anywhere else. That is what we strive to be and we are confident that growth lies for us in our backyard (so to speak), as well as further afield.