In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Becky Liggero, Pinnacle CEO Paris Smith shares how she encourages the growth of eSports within the company.
Paris Smith, who’s headed Pinnacle since 2006, acknowledges the value of marketing resources at a company’s disposal. However, it is the people that she works with that Smith says make the biggest difference.
“We use a lot of modeling but also the guys. You know, there are all these sports experts that are working within the department, and they’re very, very good at seeing anything. There’s different triggers that come off through the modeling, and then they come look into it right away. But integrity’s really at the forefront of Pinnacle pushing the eSports products that we have,” Smith said.
The bookmaker has been around since 1998, and the longevity amid changing business environments has made for an educational experience for everybody involved, according to Smith.
“Our eSports manager, he’s set up a really neat program within the organization, where there’s a very clear growth pattern,” Smith said. “You start out by taking the games offline, and then you become a junior trader, a senior trader, and it’s been really neat to see the growth in our product offering based on what he put in place, and it’s kind of like a little eSports university within Pinnacle. So due to that, we’ve been able to expand the product a lot more.”
Smith believes underestimating the competition is a costly error for those looking to get into the business. The people in the industry, she said, “are extremely intelligent. They’re very educated.”
What’s the best bet when entering the market, or expanding one’s operations? “I think the best answer is, Be genuine, because as soon as you start to be tricky, clever, they’re going to sense it before you start.”
She talked about Pinnacle Solution, a B2B sportsbook platform service launched just last April. “It’s a really neat way for existing operators, rather than taking the risk and trying to build up themselves… they can at least get a feel for their clients, or if they have the capability to market it out… We have an API iFrame that’s become very, very popular,” Smith said.
