I think it’s fascinating to see the current landscape in North America since some of the betting markets have become regulated. North America still feels so many years behind the UK atm. I am talking about the mass market participants.
There is always a lot of criticism from North American operators about the European soft book model of bookmaking. I.e. ban/restrict all and sundry. This tweet isn’t about the merits of that. Many said the European model wouldn’t work in the US. That US punters wouldn’t stand for restrictions etc. Land of the free. It has happened exactly like that. The reality is that companies like Fanduel are owned by Flutter, who have grown incredibly successful using that European model. They aren’t going to change.
People say that the American punters won’t tolerate the Responsible Gambling restrictions we are beginning to see in the UK. I think they are in for a huge shock. It will only take one or two of the biggest operators to do it and the legislators will think it should be the norm. They have the software now.
We get to the main crux of the tweet and it follows on from the recent tweet about Single Customer View. These are things being imposed on UK punters at the moment. Snuck through the back door. It probably seems completely irrelevant. You would have to be incredibly naive to think these things won’t make their way to North America if they make sense to the betting operators. Irrespective of what the impingements are on the customer.
The issues we are talking about here in the UK may seem a distant issue but don’t sleep on them if you don’t want them. I suspect that they will be very relevant somewhere down the line. Think of the UK market as a bellwether of what is to come.
ProPunting 