Innovation using analytics and data science heralds new era in proactive protection.
18 February 2021, Entain, the leading global sports betting and gaming entertainment operator, has completed the initial stage of its pioneering preventative approach to customer protection, known as ARC (Advanced Protection and Care). As a first outcome the company has significantly extended behavioral indicators used to identify players potentially at risk and is now developing models using more than three times the previous number.
Entain believes ARC will provide unprecedented safeguards for customers of its online sports betting and gaming brands by minimising problems before they arise. This promises to revolutionise conventional thinking around responsible gaming and usher in a new era of more personalised and proactive, technology-driven player protection, widely applicable across many forms of online sports betting and gaming entertainment.
“ARC is fundamental to our future strategy for sustainability and growth,” said Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Chief Executive of Entain. “We are putting customers first, both by prioritizing their safety through our use of technology to limit individual exposure to risk, whilst also enhancing their experience across all our brands. We will do this not only in our traditional markets of sports betting and gaming, but also as we grow into new areas, like videogaming and esports as a global entertainment company.”
Since 2018 Entain has monitored customers using markers of protection based on things such as frequency of play, changes in spend patterns and length of time of online play. The new markers being trialed include additional checks on, for example, fluctuations in stake levels, erratic play during a single session and signs that a player might be chasing losses. These were identified as potential danger signs by world-leading academics and gambling support groups taking part in scientific workshops held by Entain earlier this year.
Data scientists at the company are now building models to test the extended range of new behavioral indicators in real situations, seeking to identify customers who, according to the research, may show signs of potential problems as well as people exhibiting intermittent signs of being at potential risk. Eventually, Entain hopes to offer every customer both a personalised playing experience and protection tailored to their individual risk profile.
“We’re using our technology, leveraging our data and behavioral science, to deliver a fundamental shift in customer care,” said Peter Marcus, Entain Group Operations Director, who is overseeing the development of ARC. “The real innovation is to apply hyper-personalisation, to customer protection – using insight into the individual behaviors of customers to manage their exposure to risk in real time.”
Data from the new models is to be assessed prior to further development of ARC in the coming months. Entain will also seek further input from Harvard Medical School Faculty, Division on Addiction collaborating with Entain on a multi-year research project, Dr Michael Auer, from the scientific management of the Gambling Research Centre at the University of Hohenheim in Germany and Dr Mark Griffiths, a Distinguished Professor of Behavioral Addiction and Psychology, who participated in the workshops and contributed expertise to feed into the design of the new system.
Entain will launch ARC first in the U.K. in the summer, offering real time online player protection for customers across all its brands and products, and plans to roll it out internationally from later in the year.
About Entain
Entain plc (LSE: ENT) (Formerly GVC Holdings plc) is a FTSE100 company and is one of the world’s largest sports-betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands. Sports Brands include bet.pt, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds and Sportingbet; Gaming Brands include CasinoClub, Foxy Bingo, Gala, Gioco Digitale, partypoker and PartyCasino. The Group owns proprietary technology across all of its core product verticals and in addition to its B2C operations provides services to a number of third-party customers on a B2B basis. The Group’s unique technology platform also powers BetMGM, the joint-venture it operates with MGM Resorts to capitalise on the rapidly regulating U.S. sports betting and iGaming market. Entain is tax resident in the U.K. with licenses in more than 20 countries, across five continents. The Group’s commitment to delivering sustainability and growth is recognised through its membership of the FTSE4Good and DJSI ESG indices, which identify companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.
For more information see the Group’s website: www.entaingroup.com
