With the emergence of both prediction markets and illegal operators, it may seem that sportsbook operators have their hands full at the moment.

LeoVegas, however, like many other operators, is continuing to plough on and finding the right balance between improving bottom lines and customer satisfaction. 

With the firm active in various regions worldwide, it has the knowledge to rival any business on how to navigate headwinds and come out on top. 

SBC News spoke to Andre Zammit, Senior Vice President of Sportsbook at LeoVegas ahead of the SBC Summit at the end of the month…

Having over two decades worth of experience working on sportsbook improvement, can you give us a summary on how the product has changed over that period?

Over the last 20-plus years, the sportsbook product has fundamentally transformed from a transactional utility into an algorithmic, content-driven engagement platform. 

Where operators once simply managed risk on static lines, they now run real-time tech ecosystems built around speed, personalisation, and user retention. From desktop to mobile-first, micro-betting, to bet builders and player props.

With the World Cup now over and the domestic season underway, what has LeoVegas learned that it can use going forward from sportsbook activity?

The transition from a marquee international tournament to the high-frequency domestic football season provides operator ecosystems with invaluable real-world operational insights. For a mobile-first brand like LeoVegas, major tournaments serve as both a platform stress test and a massive user-acquisition engine. 

From a trading perspective, the key takeaway is refining our multi-jurisdiction strategy, ensuring our pricing and risk models are tailored to the regulatory and behavioral nuances of each specific market.

Has the popularity of the LeoVegas sportsbook improved following the World Cup, and if so can you tell us by how much?

While it’s too early to give a final verdict, the direction looks promising. Early metrics show a strong conversion rate of tournament-first bettors transitioning into weekly domestic league users.

What would you say the reasons are for this?

It really boils down to three core operational pillars:

• A Truly Customer-First Approach: During the tournament, we focused heavily on eliminating friction, from instant payouts and seamless onboarding to intuitive UX. 
• The In-House Sportsbook Advantage: Owning our core technology and trading stack gives us total control. It allowed us to quickly pivot our product features, adjust pricing models, and more.
• Higher-Quality KPI Tracking & Precision: Rather than just tracking vanity metrics like short-term turnover, we upgraded our internal analytics to focus on deeper, value-driven KPIs. That clear visibility allows us to optimize and refine the user journey in real time.

How tough is it to entice customers with new product launches to differentiate from the competition whilst protecting LeoVegas’ bottom lines? 

When introducing new, innovative features, like bet builders, micro-betting, or personalised feeds, the challenge isn’t just getting users to adopt them. 

The real test is ensuring those innovations expand your hold and user lifetime value (LTV) rather than eroding profitability through high bonusing, vendor costs, or sharp player exploitation.

Has the emergence of prediction markets changed your approach at LeoVegas? If so, how?

We view the rise of prediction markets as an incredible source of real-time data. When you see massive volume flowing through an exchange-style market, it provides immediate insight into crowd consensus and market efficiency. 

There is a continuous learning curve there, we at LeoVegas can observe how those high-volume signals behave in real time and use those learnings to fine-tune our own pricing frameworks, ensuring our risk controls stay ahead of the curve.

How significant was LeoVegas’ Tiger sportsbook launch in the UK? What impact do you expect this to have on your operations there?

The UK launch of Tiger was a major landmark for LeoVegas. Moving one of the most sophisticated, competitive sports betting markets in the world onto our proprietary platform is a massive validation of our technology stack.

Operationally, the impact is transformative in three main ways:

• Strategic Independence & Agility: While we continue to work closely with trusted key providers, bringing the platform in-house means we ultimately control our own destiny. Having direct ownership of our core product stack allows us to design, build, and deploy UK-specific features, enhancements, and UX updates in real time based on direct player feedback.
• Operational Efficiency: Owning the end-to-end stack, from trading engines to front-end UX, significantly optimizes our cost structure by reducing third-party platform fees, directly supporting long-term margin expansion in the market.
• Tailored Risk & Pricing: Having our in-house trading and risk management integrated directly into the UK operation allows us to fine-tune localised pricing, manage liability more effectively, and offer deeper in-play liquidity across key domestic sports.

With data and tech improvements on both the consumer side and the operator side, as well as tax and regulatory hurdles across the world, how difficult is it in the modern era to keep sportsbooks rewarding for both the punter and the business?

It is certainly tougher today due to regulatory and tax pressures, but the answer isn’t choosing between player value and business profit, it’s replacing broad promotional discounting with superior product experience. By owning our technology in-house, we reduce operating costs, giving us the flexibility to offer sharper pricing and innovative features like bet builders. 

Combine that with smart, data-driven personalisation, and the punter gets an entertaining, highly relevant experience, while the business maintains a sustainable, protected margin.

What are you hoping to gain from the SBC Summit? What do you think will be the key takeaways?

For us, attending and engaging with the industry at the SBC Summit comes down to two main objectives: benchmarking and collaboration.

• What we hope to gain: It’s a great opportunity to connect with key technology and data partners to share insights on how the industry is adapting to shifting regulatory landscapes, fast-moving market dynamics, and changing consumer expectations.
• Key takeaways to watch for: I expect the defining themes this year will center around the evolution of in-house tech stacks versus third-party vendor models, the real-world impact of prediction markets and AI on pricing engines, and how operators are building sustainable, product-led retention in a high-tax, heavily regulated environment.

Need a refresher on sports betting trading in the current world? Get yourself to the Sportsbook Trading Masterclass led by Jonathan Smith at SBC Summit Lisbon on Tuesday 29 September. Get yourself a conference pass by clicking here.