The iGaming industry’s got a unique, new and exciting sports betting product on the market and industry veteran Ian Williams is now in charge of its marketing. The company is BuzzSports.com and the product is ZonePlay and the minute I heard that Ian had accepted his new position as Marketing Director, I wanted to know more. Even though I was not personally able to attend G2E 2010, BuzzSports was there in full force and if you missed them in Vegas, you can catch them again at the upcoming ICE show in London this coming January.
In the meantime, to learn more about what this “what happens next” in play sports wagering product, how players can access it, what sports it features, what markets it will target, and why this is the freshest thing to hit sports betting, take a browse through my interview with Ian and enjoy.
ZonePlay Interview with Ian Williams, BuzzSports Marketing Director
Becky: What is your background in the gaming industry?
Ian: I have been in the industry over 11 years now, starting out in sports betting in the UK, Europe & Asian market, moving into casino and more recently poker. There are very few territories in which I haven’t worked over my career.
Becky: How did you end up with BuzzSports and what is your role within the organization?
Ian: My role for Buzzsports.com is Marketing Director. We have developed a unique product that is the freshest thing to hit sports betting, in particular in game wagering, in a number of years.
Becky: What is ZonePlay? How is it different than the other sports betting offerings that are out there?
Ian: Zone play is a graphical representation of a field of play in a given sport. It is unique from other offerings as it is less about picking a team to win/loss the game and more of an entertainment form of in play sports wagering. The concept simply put is “what happens next?” For UK football, for example, we trade games live in play with the 10 zones, the market being what will happen next, where a Freekick, Corner, Goal Kick or goal will occur in a given zone. Every time the ball goes dead we reform the market.
We feel this product is cross over from Entertainment and sports betting which will engage a customer and keep them betting in play for the duration of a game.
Zoneplay will be available from Mid December online, in retail and via mobile at www.buzzsports.com
Becky: What is your main goal at G2E? Why are you exhibiting?
Ian: Our aim at G2E was to show the world our product. We know that people inside the UK market place love the product and we wanted show people that may not be exposed to In play betting as we know it in the UK and raise the brand awareness of our project. We are exhibiting in Las Vegas as we are looking to enter global markets and partner with Tier 1 blue chip companies who operate in jurisdictions where gaming is legal.
Becky: What have people said about ZonePlay during G2E?
Ian: We have been delighted with the feedback from the cleaners to the VP’s & CEO’s the sentiment was the same, “this is the most exciting development seen in sports entertainment wagering in 6 years”. We were always confident in the strength of the product and that it would appeal to a wide-range of people, but the extent to which it has been praised has been fantastic. With the launch of ZonePlay online in December, we are extremely excited at the prospect of showing the platform to the wider world.
Becky: How can players access ZonePlay? Through what channels?
Ian: Buzz Sports currently is available in Belgium through a retail partner. We will begin trading to the UK and Ireland in the middle of December this year online via Android & Iphone App. We anticipate the product being available through normal retail bookmakers within Q1 of next year.
Becky: What sports do you feature and what are your main geographical markets?
Ian: Currently we trade live UK Premier League games, Belgian 1st and 2nd tier games, however we will trade other sports on demand from our partners. We believe the concept works for most sports. The list of sports we have built out trading models for include Soccer, NFL, Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, AFL. We intend to build out a strong UK and European presence with the brand both from a licensing and also own brand strategy over the next year. We have made some interesting contacts at the G2E show resulting in us covering a vast geographic market including, Mexico, Australia, UK, Central Europe and South East Asia.
Becky: Where can we find you next? What conferences do you plan to attend?
Ian: We will be exhibiting at the ICE show in London next up where we will have a much larger presence.
