Entain – formally known as GVC Holdings – and Verizon Media – a new partner of Twitch Rivals North America – will get into bed to develop trailblazing immersive VR experiences that aim to combine live sporting events with interactive gaming. In a nutshell, users will be able to experience live sporting events, socialise through various platforms, check information and wager bets across Entain services. This would include eSports events too!
This project has been born out of research conducted by YouGov for Entain. The findings showed that technology is heavily shaping consumer behaviour within the entertainment and gambling space, globally.
With Entain’s success from their online casino portfolio throughout 2020 bolstered by record numbers from leading online brand, PartyCasino, the switch from land-based locations to online platforms is a cornerstone for their 10-year success plan – and something this partnership will help come to fruition.
Entain and Verizon Partner Up
But this isn’t where the partnerships start or end.
This new VR collaboration will build on a relationship on projects between BetMGM (a project Entain are part of in the USA) and Yahoo Sports (part of Verizon Media). And in the future, Entain and Verizon Media will collaborate to produce concepts and new formats utilising emerging tech, such as more virtual reality, 5G connectivity, augmented reality and online gambling.
The overarching goal of the partnership is to create innovative ways for sports fans to live stream events but make them more realistic from other locations, such as transporting them to the stadium or arena and allow them to place bets as they stream. There are even murmurs of using the tech to enable fans to participate in play. And all of this will become available for eSports fans too, as directed by the research…
Catapulted by YouGov Research
The exciting and revolutionary project has been devised off the back of YouGov research explicitly conducted for Entain. The research uncovered that entertainment and gaming is converging on an array of device types and becoming more interactive. More often than not, it has been combined with social media channels, which increases the excitement of the game, stream or other forms of entertainment.
The research also dived into the most active demographics of these types of entertainment technologies. In all markets, males between the age of 25 and 39 were the most likely to use the technology and services first, especially when it comes to eSports and gaming. The research discovered that most eSports fans used social media and enjoyed betting, making the proposed project ideal for this niche in gaming. Similar promising results were found in sports away from eSports and within older demographics.
The data has helped shape the Entain and Verizon partnership and add currency to its value.
