Nikolaus, Sportradar has reported positive uplifts in first-time deposits and registrations with SkillOnNet. What structural changes unlocked that growth?
The starting point was the need for a marketing solution capable of delivering complex campaigns across multiple casino brands and jurisdictions. SkillOnNet operates a portfolio of igaming sites, including PlayOJO, PlayUZU and BacanaPlay, each with different audiences and market requirements, so the challenge was not simply to run more campaigns, but to create a more integrated structure around them. We began with attribution. The objective was to complement the existing measurement approach and give the operator a different basis for decision-making across channels. From there, we focused on helping their performance teams with day-to-day optimisation: measuring performance, shifting budgets between channels, changing creative where needed and consolidating activity around what was already working. The other critical factor was technical integration. You can only optimise what you can measure.
Should operators expect positive uplifts from the start ?
In this case, the uplift was measured over 12 months and came from working closely together with their performance team to complement areas that we already working well such as attribution, integration, campaign structure and budget allocation.
It would be wrong to suggest every operator should expect significant improvements as standard.
The industry talks a lot about high-value customers. How do you define value in this context?
Value must be defined by what matters to the operator. In parts of the industry, success is still judged too narrowly: did the player register, yes or no? Did they make a first deposit, yes or no? That is not enough. If a marketing provider only receives a registration signal, it is very difficult to optimise towards long-term value. But if you can identify whether a player is likely to become high value, whether they are engaging meaningfully, or whether they are more bonus-led, you can optimise much more intelligently. The goal is to move beyond volume and focus on quality. This means identifying users with similar profiles to those who generate stronger value, higher engagement or stronger deposit behaviour, rather than treating every registration as equal.
How early in the funnel can that value be identified?
In the SkillOnNet case, the work was focused primarily on acquisition, more generally, Sportradar has solutions designed to assess potential player value very early in the lifecycle. Within around 48 hours, it is possible to predict likely customer lifetime value ranges with relatively high accuracy. That becomes especially relevant for retention, because it allows operators to personalise communication, offers and engagement based on expected value rather than using the same approach for every player.
With brands such as PlayOJO, PlayUZU and BacanaPlay operating across different markets, how do you balance centralised strategy with local execution?
The core strategy remains consistent: the technology, measurement framework and reporting structure need to be aligned across the portfolio. But execution has to be localised. Each market has different regulation, language requirements, audience behaviours and restrictions. All this means targeting has to be specific, whether by language, country, contextual environment, age parameters, inclusion lists, exclusion lists or other market-level controls. The advantage of having a strong centralised framework is that it makes scaling easier. Once the technology and reporting infrastructure are integrated, new brands and markets can be added more efficiently, while still allowing local execution to reflect the realities of each jurisdiction.
Where do you see the biggest inefficiencies in full-funnel marketing today?
The biggest imbalance is still the amount of money going into acquisition compared with retention and reactivation. In many cases, 95 per cent or more of marketing budget is focused on acquiring new users, while only a small proportion goes into bringing existing or lapsed players back. It’s partly a structural issue. The KPIs the industry focuses on are usually new registrations and new depositing customers. Public reporting also tends to emphasise new customer growth, not how many inactive players have been reactivated. But in more mature markets, the balance will have to change. If a market is saturated and players already hold multiple accounts, growth becomes much more of a retention and reactivation challenge.
What signals and datasets are proving most valuable for segmentation?
There is no single magic datapoint. The value comes from combining multiple signals and understanding how each contributes to performance. Pixel integration and server-to-server connections are particularly important because they allow real-time deposit and first-time deposit data to feed back into campaign optimisation. This provides deeper integrations and user tracking data across the operator’s sites, making it possible to report not only on CPA, but also on player value, creative ROI, repeat deposits and funnel performance. The real power is in understanding the customer journey. For example, if users are starting registration but not completing it, that may indicate an issue in the registration flow. With the right data, marketing becomes not only an acquisition tool, but a way of identifying operational friction.
Attribution remains a major challenge. Where do you think the industry still gets it wrong?
The biggest problem is over-reliance on last-click attribution. In modern marketing, it is very rare that one touchpoint is responsible for conversion. A player may have seen a brand campaign, video, sponsorship, display ad or other messaging before eventually clicking through via search. If the operator credits only the final click, it misunderstands the role of the rest of the funnel, which leads to poor investment decisions. If you follow that logic too far, you end up spending everything on channels that sit at the bottom of the funnel, even though brand awareness and earlier touchpoints may have created the demand in the first place. You need to look across the full funnel and understand the contribution of each channel. It is more complex, but it is a much more accurate way to allocate budget.
What makes an iGaming-specific programmatic approach different from standard digital advertising?
Every industry has specific requirements. In iGaming, the most important di erences are the supply environment, regulation, brand safety and the need to avoid inappropriate audiences. For sports betting, you want relevant sports environments. For casino, the audience and context may be different. The question is always where you can access the best quality ad supply at the right price, while measuring quality properly and staying compliant. The advantage of being focused on gambling is that you build a much deeper understanding of the environments, audiences and campaign structures that work in this sector.
Sportradar has also referenced scaling marketing activity by up to 1,100 per cent. What needs to be in place to scale without losing efficiency?
A solid technology stack is essential, and that means pixel integration, server-to-server connections, aligned attribution, automated optimisation and reporting structures that match the operator’s own internal view of performance. You also need flexibility around budget. If more spend is allocated, you need the ability to move it quickly into the highest-performing areas without creating inefficiency. Finally, the relationship between teams matters. Marketing, creative, operations and account teams need to be aligned, because speed is critical. If creative needs to change or a campaign needs to be adjusted, the turnaround has to be quick.
How do you ensure rapid scaling does not compromise compliance?
Compliance must sit at the centre of the process, which means market-specific restrictions, responsible gaming measures and approval processes built into campaign activation. Because we work specifically in gambling, we can focus activity on appropriate environments and avoid contexts that create risk. We are also involved in industry groups working on standards around responsible advertising, privacy and compliance including the EDAA (European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance and IAB (International Advertising Bureau). For regulated marketing to be credible, those standards matter. Is creative still a differentiator, or are data and targeting doing most of the heavy lifting? It does not work without both. Data, targeting and creative all need to connect, and environment is the third part of that equation. Not every creative works in every context. Not every audience responds to the same message. You can keep the targeting and environment the same and change the creative, and still see major performance differences. Equally, you can keep the creative the same and change the audience or environment, and performance can move significantly. The differentiator is not choosing between creative and data. It is understanding how to balance them.
With acquisition costs rising, are marginal gains becoming harder to achieve?
There are always improvements to be made, but the size of the gain depends on the starting point. If an operator has already optimised heavily, the gains may be smaller. If the current setup is fragmented or inefficient, the opportunity is much larger. There are natural limits, but marketing performance is never finished. Markets change, audiences change, competitors change and technology changes. That means optimisation is constant.
What will separate the next wave of high-growth operators?
From a marketing perspective, the winners will be the operators willing to invest across the full funnel. If you spend only on performance marketing and expect exponential growth, I do not think that is sustainable. Operators need to invest in brand, measure results properly, adapt quickly and be willing to change direction when the data shows something is not working. Agility is crucial. Some established brands can be slow to make decisions, and that becomes a disadvantage. The operators that succeed will have a longer-term strategy, strong technology, good data, creative flexibility and the willingness to test, learn and adjust. That combination is what separates successful marketing from average performance.
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Nikolaus, Sportradar has reported positive uplifts in first-time deposits and registrations with SkillOnNet. What structural changes unlocked that growth? The starting point was the need for a marketing solution capable of delivering complex campaigns across multiple casino brands and jurisdictions. SkillOnNet operates a portfolio of igaming sites, including PlayOJO, PlayUZU and BacanaPlay, each with different…
The post iGaming growth depends on full-funnel discipline appeared first on G3 Newswire.