Since the pandemic, the interest and demand for fast sports content has shown no signs of slowing down. Instead, new generations of bettors are showing an interest in the vertical, according to BETER’s Chief Revenue Officer Yori Arami.

Speaking to SBC News, Arami expressed his confidence in the fact that while there is a “long journey ahead”, BETER has “all the ingredients” to cater to these new players.

SBC: BETER is a relatively young company. What made you want to join this company, and could you tell us more about your responsibilities and your role at BETER? 

YA: Before joining BETER, I worked at Playtech for 10 or 11 years, mostly dealing with Casino and Live products for all the major T1 clients. When the opportunity to join BETER came along, I was naturally excited to expand my knowledge of new verticals, but most importantly, I realised that BETER has a winning combination of top-quality products, amazing people and extensive opportunities to grow in an industry that can only go one way in the coming years: onwards and upwards.

This all sounds very exciting, and it definitely is, but it also comes with a lot of responsibility and hard work. As we are a young company, there were plenty of things that needed to be revamped and numerous processes that needed to be set up to support the various functions that help the company grow.  

As a Chief Revenue Officer, I am responsible for all of the revenue generation processes here at BETER. This includes, in the long term matters – developing and overseeing BETER’s strategy for generating revenue and more specific tasks, like attracting new clients and partners, closing deals. As well, my responsibilities cover driving better integration and alignment between all our revenue-related functions such as marketing, sales, customer support, pricing and revenue management. 

SBC: Looking back at your extensive experience in the gambling industry, how has the market changed in the last five years? What part has BETER played in these changes and what is the company’s place within the industry?

YA: Our industry and market have evolved and changed massively over the last 10 years. If we zero in on the previous 5 years in particular, I would say that the major shifts have occurred on 3 fronts:

Firstly, the number of operators and suppliers has increased dramatically and the competition is now stronger than ever.

Secondly, the available products have improved in terms of their quality and functionality while applying gamification to products and services with numerous other innovations. It has helped market players to stand out from the crowd by creating a unique and exclusive offering to boost customer loyalty.

And thirdly, regulation and responsible gaming have become very hot topics these last few years, with a range of countries introducing regulatory requirements, new licensing regimes and restrictions on operators, suppliers, and the players themselves.

BETER came onto the scene a few years before the pandemic providing fast sports and esports events. At first, the pandemic was a major boost to fast content consumption, as major sports in the real world were closed down. However, interest and demand for this kind of content hasn’t slowed down since, and in fact, a new generation of players has emerged to ensure that there is still a huge and growing market for the content we provide.

I believe that BETER, as a company, is in a very strong position in terms of our existing clients, who can help us back up our claims about the quality of our products and services. We are always looking for new strategic partnerships and working to put ourselves in a position of influence, as it is important for us to be perceived as market leaders and innovators. We always strive to be one step ahead of the competition. 

BETER team is taking the right steps to become a supplier of choice for the industry. There’s no doubt that there’s a long journey ahead, but I believe that we have all the ingredients for success if we all keep pushing in the same direction.

SBC: What have been your main goals since joining BETER? What achievements would you like to highlight? 

YA: Since there was no in-house commercial team at BETER before I arrived, I set myself a key goal of building an independent team who could be in a position to start closing deals and making sales by themselves. It took a while, I’ll admit, but eventually, we accomplished this.

Another important task which I had to dive into straight away was making preparations for the ICE exhibition and ensuring that we would be able to put on a successful show to help us scale up our sales and business opportunities. 

Due to the war in Ukraine, we were forced to change our plans and our participation at ICE was not as we originally planned it to be. However, I still think that we had a successful ICE and generated many opportunities, including new contracts we’ve signed recently and an innovative partnership in the US market, which we are currently assessing.  

SBC: BETER recently attended ICE London 2022, how important was this event from a sales point of view and could you share some of the results BETER has achieved by attending this year’s ICE show?

YA: We spent a lot of time and resources on our preparations for ICE, all of which had to be changed at the last minute due to the tragic war in Ukraine, where many of our employees are based. Given that, we had a good show, given the circumstances, as we were very busy in meetings almost back-to-back throughout the 3 days of the conference. 

To highlight some of our results so far, in April and May, we onboarded 2 new clients (one is a major operator across Europe), and we are planning to onboard around 9 clients in June. On top of all that, we signed around 10 new deals and we are currently increasing our presence in new regions such as Latin America.

SBC: How important are exhibitions in terms of driving sales?

YA: Undoubtedly, industry events are crucial for driving sales. Of course, it’s all about brand awareness, interpersonal communication, and showcasing products ​​rather than actual sales during the event itself. But all of these aspects influence revenue growth. The more events we attend, the more exposure and brand awareness we achieve, which in turn helps us sell our products and services. 

Moreover, the need to speak to clients directly and in person cannot be overstated. There’s no better way to build a strong working relationship based on trust and mutual assistance than to meet with partners face-to-face to discuss issues and future opportunities for growth and development.

I learned this in my previous role at Playtech and I saw it again with our presence at ICE, but this is only the beginning, and we are already looking into the possibility of expanding our reach and participating in even more events in 2022 and 2023.

SBC: BETER has managed to team up with some of the biggest operators in the industry. What sales hacks have you picked up by working with some of them? What are some of the needs of operators that BETER can cater to?

YA: We are proud to have some of the biggest names in the industry as our clients. There is no doubt that we will continue to expand our partners’ base. 

At the same time, we are currently living in a time of plenty, and operators are not short on content at their disposal – in most cases, they’re spoilt for choice. This has transferred the power from the supplier to the operator, leaving the suppliers to compete for positioning, promotion, and prices.

With this in mind, I know that operators really insist on product quality and will only accept the best product at the best price, while still trying to focus their allocated resources on strategically important items. They also try to minimise expenditure on costs related to the supplier.

I believe that our job is to make sure that we maintain our competitive position in the market in terms of both product quality and delivery of services. We maintain close contact with our clients, listen to their needs, show interest in their business and vision, and our goal is to support them in any way we can. 

Driving business development through ideas, suggestions, and innovative projects is another central principle of our work. 

SBC: Do you have any plans to attend other events on the calendar for the rest of the year?

YA: As I mentioned before, I believe that events are one of the best tools we have for increasing our brand awareness and forging these initial contacts and partnerships with potential clients. Leading on from the recent deals we signed in Latin America, we are considering participating in the Brazil iGaming Summit later in June. 

We are also looking into other major events such as iGB Live in Amsterdam and G2E Asia which is being held in Singapore this year. This year we have plans to grow and develop even more by  participating in industry events, adding and showcasing new next-gen products and services.