Q&A: Gamesys marketing director Simon Mizzi on the LiveScore acquisition
Mizzi explains the rationale behind the operator’s move into sports publishing
Late last year Gamesys completed the acquisition of Live Score, a global sports media publisher. Below, Gamesys marketing director Simon Mizzi explains the rationale behind the deal and Gamesys’ plans for the business for the World Cup and beyond.
Q: What was the rationale for the acquisition?
A: The acquisition offered Gamesys the perfect opportunity to move into the sports media world. LiveScore is the leading name in the score updates sector and has an incredible track record of performance, an enviable worldwide reach, leading market share and high user loyalty. It also has a huge amount of potential. With the right investment and support, LiveScore can not only cement its position as the foremost provider of sports score updates but develop into a top global sports media business.
Q: When was everything completed?
A: The acquisition was completed just before Christmas last year. From that day it has been business as usual, with LiveScore operating as an independent entity and managed by a new, dedicated team focussed on developing the strategy and delivering growth.
- Derren Maggs joined in March as Chief Commercial Officer for LiveScore. Derren is a former Marketing Director at bwin, and prior to that was the MD at Oddschecker
- Rob Brown joined at start of the year as LiveScore’s Commercial Director. Rob’s previous roles include Head of Sales at Racing Post and Head of Business Development at Weve, O2’s mobile marketing arm.
- Tim Lesnik joined LiveScore in April as Head of Content. He was previously Head of Marketing Content at bwin.
- Dave Watkins joined in May as LiveScore’s Sales Director. Dave joins from BetGenius where he had been in the Sales Director role developing global business relationships.
Q: Are there any projected synergies from the deal?
A: The purchase provides Gamesys with an opportunity to diversify revenue generation far beyond its existing markets and audience. Against this backdrop, LiveScore will maintain its independence, operate a completely separate P&L and will be run by the newly-appointed personnel in London alongside the hugely talented incumbent IT team in Prague. However, there are clearly some areas where LiveScore will want to leverage the developed Gamesys infrastructure and expertise following the acquisition, from legal and HR units to relationships with marketing, media and technology companies.
Q: Why the shift into sports?
A: It’s no secret that Gamesys has been exploring ways to enter the sports sector but this acquisition is about unlocking the potential the company holds in its own right. With over 30 million MAUs in more than 200 countries, the brand has an enormous and loyal userbase. The ambition now is to take it to the next level. With our new team in place we’re confident we can significantly grow the userbase, increase existing user engagement and improve the monetisation of this audience.
Q: How does this affect your long-awaited sportsbook launch?
A: The intention is very much to invest and grow the existing LiveScore business rather than view it in the context of anything else. We already have very strong partnerships with some of the world’s best known sportsbooks and we are taking steps to build on those. From initial conversations it is clear that both potential and existing betting partners are enthusiastic about the prospect of deeper and more integrated relationships to help them deliver on their goals of acquisition, retention and brand awareness. With improvements in BI capabilities and Ad Tech we will be able to deliver far more for our advertisers from direct deals to programmatic, benefitting sports betting firms in particular.