Dmitriy Belianin, CCO Parimatch International, shares his thoughts on the future of the iGaming industry.

Parimatch is the world-leading betting company founded in 1994 which employs a digital-focused strategy to meet all the challenges of today’s reality. The company has come a long way and is continuously developing and improving the quality of its customer experience, which is enjoyed by over 2.6 million users across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Parimatch’s team of champions includes such stars as Conor McGregor, the living legend of boxing Mike Tyson and Dale Willem Steyn, one of the greatest bowlers of all time. It also includes partnerships with one of the most famous football leagues in the world, such as LaLiga, as well as with the biggest teams in the world: Chelsea, Juventus, Leicester City and Everton.

While the pandemic came as a  massive setback for many businesses, it was a boom for the online gambling industry and for Esports, which saw significant growth, especially during the lockdowns—since there was nothing else to do. So, what innovations has Parimatch come up with to take the brand to the next level?

Since the pandemic and the increased user exposure that came with it, finding new ways to connect and engage with the audience became the key to success. We focused on bringing people new entertainment options:

• simulated sports, namely games based on random number generator;
• non-competitive esports, when two players are playing against each other on the console;
• and free-to-play games, which allows users to have fun without putting in any money.

We all know that India is a huge market with many betting companies now coming forward to explore it. So how do you plan to expand your base in India in the coming years?

India is a vast market, even though it’s not legalized yet. According to estimations, 80% of Indians play slot machines, and live casino games, or do betting at least once a year, and as much as 40% of all Internet users in India gamble. Due to the lack of country-wide legalization, India loses approximately $140 million of possible taxes annually.

This is why we are working on helping the Indian market to get legalized. It is a multifaceted project: we are working with media and legal structures to educate all market stakeholders about betting and gambling advantages. The Parimatch brand already has the experience in massively shifting public perception of gambling: it was done in the brand’s home ground Ukraine one year ago when the country was also in the process of legalizing gambling.

Once the market will be legalized, we have huge plans for India – as we are one of the biggest brands in terms of brand awareness for the Indian audience globally. Currently, we, as the global sports betting brand, target Indian audiences worldwide, which helps to create the base for expansion and deeper work with the legalized Indian market in the future.

 Are there any hurdles you’ve faced in India? How did you overcome them?

The main issue is that the Indian market is not legalized yet. This is a very hard and long road. The USA can be mentioned as an example of a similar scale. Americans have always gambled, but at some point, the state almost completely banned such activity. After 1992’s PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) banning states from regulating sports betting and 2011’s United States v. Scheinberg effectively wiping out the entire poker industry in America, it took many years to turn the discourse on gambling in a constructive direction. However, the good news and reason for hope are that when the legalization process finally got off the ground in 2018, more and more states began to introduce permits, especially for online gambling. This shows that if you overcome the incorrect perception of gambling as something harmful and wrong, the process will go with increasing force because its advantages for all participants cannot be ignored.

This is exactly why educating the market and helping to erase the stigma of betting is one of our constant and most persistent lines of work. Right now, many people are uneducated when it comes down to betting and casinos, they either think it’s a scam or something shameful, not to be shared with friends and family. Our mission is to educate both legal authorities and potential customers about betting and gambling as normal, fun, and sometimes even intellectual entertainment.

Another big challenge today, relevant for any sports betting brand globally, is payment solutions. We try to bring as many of them as possible to ensure a high level of convenience for our users.

Last but not least, slow internet connection and low-performance mobile phones are a headache in many areas outside of big cities with good infrastructure. To overcome them, you need a lightweight product, able to work perfectly despite low connection quality or low gadget performance. Here’s a little teaser: we are about to release one of the fastest sports betting products in the world.

How does the industry deal with the various state and central laws on gambling?

The industry needs state-wide legalization, and that’s where all efforts go. We focus on educating the market: working with legal structures to help understand the industry and come up with the legal solution; working with the media, this interview is one of the examples; etc. We go to conferences to spread the word about the market and legalization. And, of course, we explore the possibilities of getting the license in a few available states – Nagaland, Sikkim, and Meghalaya.

 What are your future collaboration plans considering other sports franchise leagues?

We work in two directions: on the one hand, increasing our brand awareness; on the other hand, building the right attributes and connections with the sports leagues, clubs, and ambassadors.

On top of that, we feel like giving back is very important. Investing in the sports industry is a part of it, we want to give back some part of our profits by investing in sports development. We have this experience in other markets, e.g. in Africa we’ve helped amateur leagues and clubs to get sports equipment, helped schools to get computers so they can study, etc. “Giving back” to both sports and the countries we are operating in is a very important aspect of our activities and collaborations.

Share a brief about other marketing initiatives that you are looking forward in the next 1-2 years in India

When it comes to the Indian audience globally, we want to increase our brand awareness and become the top-of-mind brand when it comes to cricket betting online. For this goal, we use a wide range of communication channels: sponsorships, TV broadcasts, partnerships with sports and media websites, as well as working with brand ambassadors globally.

As I’ve mentioned already, we are looking to help to develop the sports in the Asian region, India included, to help our brand build the right associations and connections with the audience.