Exclusive: Betfred to launch in-house mobile sportsbook
New sports betting platform developed in-house will replace Mfuse offering once launched later this month.
Betfred has developed a mobile sports betting platform to replace its current Mfuse-supplied offering, making it one of the first major bookmakers to manage the product entirely in-house.
The new mobile site, which will be sent out to 5,000 Betfred customers for advanced testing next week, is set for official launch later this month. It has been built by Betfred’s Manchester-based mobile development team led by Andy Daniels. The initial release will provide customers with a basic sportsbook functionality including an improved betting slip and navigation, however the core proprietary platform will allow the operator to add new features when it wishes to do so.
Mobile now accounts for almost 50 % of Betfred’s online turnover and around 60 % of online profits. This year it has already launched standalone mobile apps for its Goals Galore, Lotto and Virtual Racing games, while work on the sportsbook app began in December. Betfred’s decision to build its own mobile sportsbook was sparked by a desire to move away from a reliance on third party solutions. Mfuse will continue to supply the operator with its WAP-based mobile sites.
Daniels, who was a lead developer at IGT subsidiary Million-2-1 and now oversees a team of 25 people at Betfred’s mobile development office at Manchester’s Sharp Project building, admitted there were “financial reasons” behind the launch, but said the main reason was to improve functionality. “In the last year some of our competitors’ sportsbooks have moved on quite a bit and we’ve not been able to do that,” Daniels said.
“Originally [mobile sports betting sites] were all very generic and we knew we could do more if we had a building block of a basic sportsbook to work on. We have been developing our flagship products such as Goals Galore recently, but the sportsbook got left behind, and the current one isn’t one of the best ones out there,” he said.
“We’re probably better on mobile than we are online and that’s because we’ve invested in the people and skillset to be able to do it ourselves. Having our own platform means we can punch above our weight,” he added.
In February Betfred launched its mobile live dealer casino solution with software partner Playtech, after going live with its Playtech-powered mobile casino offering on 2 January this year. Customers will be able to log-in to all Betfred’s mobile sites, including the new sportsbook, with a single sign-in.