First Ronaldo, Now PokerStars Head Further Into The World Of Football

PokerStars have long been associated with football. The likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Andrey Shevchenko, and Teddy Sheringham have all represented the brand, whilst Brazilian legend Ronaldo is a current ambassador for world’s largest poker site. So it’s little wonder they’re making plans to move into the sports betting market. The brand announced their plans to […]
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sambafoot_admin
2014-12-22 13:21:00

PokerStars have long been associated with football. The likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Andrey Shevchenko, and Teddy Sheringham have all represented the brand, whilst Brazilian legend Ronaldo is a current ambassador for world’s largest poker site. So it’s little wonder they’re making plans to move into the sports betting market.

The brand announced their plans to roll out a sportsbook alongside further casino games in late November, with blackjack and roulette already landing on the site on a market-by-market basis. Those games are expected to reach over half of PokerStars’ current members by the end of the year, and feature some of the lowest blackjack margins in the industry at $0.10.

But it’s arguably the sportsbook and betting on the Selecao which is the most exciting feature to land. The industry is at an all-time high thanks to the progression of online and mobile betting to the point where by 2016 gross gambling yield will reach $70billion.

It’s an extremely lucrative market and with PokerStars’ ties to football through Il Fenomeno already in place – helped by the Football Frenzy promotion they pushed during the World Cup – they will be looking for a slice of the pie in an industry where 70-85% of the betting sector is taken up by the beautiful game.
The former Real Madrid star joined forces with PokerStars in April 2013 and has been trying to get the Brazilian people as enthused about the card game as they are for himself and the likes of Neymar, Thiago Silva, and David Luiz. And it’s likely he’ll have a similar effect on sportsbook.

Eric Hollreiser, who heads up Corporate Communications at the brand said, “We are taking the same principles, practices and integrity that make PokerStars such a successful and beloved brand and applying them to new verticals.”

It’s not the first time PokerStars have rolled out new features with the brand of over 50 million members trialling casino on their Spanish site and sister site Full Tilt.
Hollreiser added, “We thoroughly researched the opportunity and spent a lot of time talking to players and analysing the behaviour of our customers on PokerStars.ES and Full Tilt.”

What they found was that around 30% of poker customers were playing casino monthly, and in some cases even bringing players back to the site.
Hollreiser added, “Those launches have been successful in reactivating dormant customers and extending the value of our existing poker customers.”
And with the Copa America in Chile due next summer, as well as the likes of the Champions League Final, the climax of the Premier League season, and of course the start of another, the sportsbook may do more than reactivate dormant customers.

A date for the launch of the sportsbook has yet to be revealed alongside the full-featured casino roll out, but the company aim to provide the same quality and offers which has made them the most popular poker brand in the world. And that in itself will make it worth the wait.