SBC’s annual Betting on Football Conference (#BOFCON) takes place in London on Thursday, April 21st. The event caters to sports betting professionals with an emphasis on the relationship between football and the betting industry. Since its inception in 2014, the event has grown and earned a name for itself as one of the best sports betting conferences in existence.
In 2015 the conference was attended by close to 300 delegates and this year the organizers are expecting 500 senior executives to attend the event, including representatives from sports betting operators, suppliers, affiliates, media, clubs, and agencies.
In this edition of Becky’s Affiliated, I’d like to share my top five reasons for attending this outstanding conference, especially for those of you located in London.
Euro 2016
Something special about this year’s #BOFCON is its strategic placement two months prior to the kick-off of the UEFA EURO 2016 Championships. This is a huge event for bookmakers taking place every four years and preparing for the opportunities coming along with Euro 2016 is something #BOFCON has built into the schedule.
“The big international tournaments always skew the betting patterns of the punting public and bookmakers tend to have to be a bit more creative given the regular sponsorship activities are unavailable”, shared SBC’s Andy McCarron.
Quality Speakers
Now in its third year, #BOFCON has earned itself a reputation of signing up a top-notch roster of speakers, all covering topics near and dear to the hearts of football betting industry professionals.
“First and foremost they have to be passionate about their subject and prepared to share some real insight from their experiences”, McCarron said when asked how he chooses his speakers.
McCarron and his team also try and get a good mix of experts, this year yielding a CEO Operator Panel, CEO Supplier Panel, CEO Content Marketing Panel, CEO Fantasy Sport Panel, CEO eSport Session, Sponsorship Marketing Panel, Innovation & Product Panel, Trading Panel, Corruption and Integrity Panels and more.
Vahe Baloulian, the CEO of BetConstruct, is a panellist on the Supplier CEO Panel. Baloulian shared a few words with CalvinAyre.com on what we can expect to learn in his session.
“During this panel we will be discussing Intelligent Data, EURO 2016 and the 2016/17 Football Season. Each subject could qualify for a panel of its own. Data actually matters when you understand what it means and what you’re going to do with it. Intelligent data is clear, definite, succinct and directly linked to action. The football competitions of today are anything but clear and definite and that makes the game beautiful and our work more exciting and challenging”.
Eric Konings is the Sports Betting Integrity Officer for Unibet, a speaker on the Integrity panel.
“All participants of the BOFCON have a vested interest in keeping the sport free of fraud and corruption. Whether you are an operator, a customer, a sports federation or a regulator, we all want the same thing: an attractive and fair online betting market. This can only be achieved if we all work alongside each other to combat for this shared interest. I am very much looking forward to discussing what role an online operator has in this, and how we can cooperate with other stakeholders in order to keep the sport clean from criminals and frauds”, Konings shared.
Regarding several of the other panels on the agenda McCarron added,
“The content marketing panel is full of experts not necessarily in the betting field, from successful firms such as the CEO and Founders of 90min.com, LADbible, Sportlobster and Givemesport.com, so they should provide some fascinating perspectives. The sponsorship panel will include New Business Director from league leaders Leicester City FC, as well as William Hill and Marathonbet’s Head of Sponsorship and Marketing”.
Top class hospitality
In addition to delivering quality speakers, the #BOFCON organizers are notorious for their outstanding hospitality. Both McCarron and SBC Founder Rasmus Sojmark work hard to connect delegates with potential business partners and are happy to facilitate as many introductions as possible during the conference.
“As the event is growing year on year, we are working hard on perfecting the overall delegate event experience and ensuring that we provide excellent value for money. For that reason we are introducing top class hospitality throughout the day, which include breakfast, lunch, evening food, free networking drinks, stadium tours of Stamford Bridge, dedicated networking areas, expo hall with innovative product displays, competitions and much more”, said McCarron.
Venue
Having attended literally dozens of gambling conferences throughout my career, an event taking place anywhere other than a hotel or expo center is always a treat. #BOFCON 2016 will be held at Stamford Bridge, the home of Premier League Champions Chelsea FC, one of the nicest stadiums in England.
As mentioned earlier, tours of the stadium will be available to delegates, a rare perk all football fans (especially Chelsea ones!) should take advantage of.
Delegate competitions
New this year, #BOFCON organizers have added a little fun for delegates to spice things up a bit during the day. Its features like this that make a conference memorable and allow sponsors to showcase their products and innovations in a creative way.
“We are introducing delegate competitions, which include the Official Table Fussball Championship sponsored by Sportradar, where you will compete against other delegates. Top Prize is a world-class Table Fussball game. There will also be a Premier League Inplay Challenge sponsored by Metric Gaming, with virtual fun inplay betting on the Arsenal – WBA game. Top Prize is tickets for EURO 2016. More competitions will be announced pre-event and on the day of the conference!” shared McCarron.
*Remember to enter promotional code AYRE when you register to receive a 33% discount the first week into April.
