SBTech is a leading B2B provider of online sports gambling technology. The Bulgaria-based firm offers turnkey betting solutions to its clients, and has expanded its range to include mobile and retail-oriented products since being founded in 2007. SBTech's goal, according to CEO Itai Zak, is to give operators a range of ways to deliver a dynamic 'in-play' experience to customers. The company's single-minded ethos is best summed up by its mission statement: "to offer the best sportsbook product out there, with the right tools and smart extras to beat any challenge the competition may raise."
SBTech claims that its package covers more than 60,000 unique events per month, features more than 30 different sports and includes fixtures from more than 150 football/soccer leagues. This broad range of content means that sports betting fans who use a SBTech-powered platform should have easy access to all their favourite leagues, teams and big events.
While SBTech works with a string of high-profile customers around the world, British gamers are most likely to recognise the popular clients. In March 2015, the company confirmed plans to expand its presence in the British gaming market and received a remote operating licence from the UK Gambling Commission. Given that a legal commitment to carrying out annual third-party security checks is required to receive this permit, anyone who uses SBTech products can rest assured that the company isn't slipping anything untoward into its betting software packages.
SBTech has also been an enthusiastic supporter of growth in the mobile betting industry, and has developed a "cutting edge" HTML5-based mobile product to meet growing demand for portable betting solutions. Incidentally, any lingering concerns regarding the firm's commitment to security and regulation can be dispelled by looking at how this mobile offering was designed – while other companies may have focused exclusively on practical concerns like ease of integration, SBTech included a GPS tracker in this software to eliminate the possibility of services being accessed from unauthorised locations.
SBTech has received plenty of accolades for its work. The company was recently crowned winner in the 'Innovation in In-Play' category at the 2015 EGR B2B Awards, indicating that although many players aren't even aware that they use SBTech products, the outfit's involvement in the industry has a huge impact on end user experience.
Operators powered by SBTech systems offer exciting 'Fast-Markets' on hundreds of 'in-play' events every day. The firm's technology enables sports fans to place precise bets on fast-moving action and have the outcome settled in seconds. Football punters can bet on 'what will happen in the next minute' of a match, while tennis fans can put money on the outcome of the very next point or game. SBTech also offers slick graphical representations of match statistics as one of its 'in-play' features, which allows clued-in punters to consult live data as they watch and wager.
Platforms that use SBTech technology are able to offer punters a wide range of promotions; operators can generate hundreds of bets per second on major events using the firm's systems, and can also access sophisticated risk calculation tools. Gadgets like these allow betting operators to react to market developments and make decisions in real time, thereby increasing the likelihood that the house will feel sufficiently confident to put big money offers on the table.
As 'in-play' sports betting gains momentum and players' expectations increase, adding distinctive new features will become increasingly important in the operator-led battle for market share. SBTech is already thinking ahead to such times, and recently announced a brand new 'cashout' function alongside partnerhsips that will let its customers include high-quality live streams on their sites.
A large part of SBTech's appeal stems from the company's personalised approach to customer service. Although virtually all clients have customer support teams of their own, SBTech makes its dedicated support team available to answer queries from clients' customers – given that they would otherwise have no contact with these punters, it's safe to conclude that the company goes the extra mile. SBTech also takes care of hosting and server maintenance for clients, so it's no surprise that the big guns have flocked to make use of the firm's services.