In an effort to capitalize on the world’s biggest sporting event this year, namely the World Cup in Russia, many software companies and gambling operators have introduced special promotions, apps and other innovations designed to bring the tournament closer to their customers. The latest offering comes from the Swedish-based gaming provider NetEnt which announced the launch of an exclusive sports-themed roulette available in its Live Casino during the 2018 FIFA World Cup this summer.
After releasing its World Cup Free Round Widget for slot games last week, the software development company is now focusing on online casino players who are equally interested in Live Casino games and the World Cup. On Tuesday, NetEnt, previously known as Net Entertainment, said it had created a totally new experience for Live Casino – the Live Sports Roulette. The game will be launched on June 14 when the tournament kicks off in Russia with the match between Russia and Saudi Arabia. It will be available throughout the World Cup until July 15 and will allow football fans to stay up-to-date with all scores while playing online roulette in NetEnt’s Live Casino.
Roulette players will be able to open the new game on both desktop and mobile platforms and follow the tournament action in real time. Dealers will not be the regular croupiers who host the game, announce the bets and the winning numbers. Instead, they will comment the games, while a live feed will show scheduled matches, on-going game statistics, and group tables. The sports-themed roulette also comes with a new special promotion called the Goal Smash Roulette. It allows online casino players to take part in daily bonus giveaways and prize draws with a total prize pool of €75,000. NetEnt will distribute the game through all partnering operators, including online casinos, sportsbooks and other gambling websites.
2018 World Cup Seen as a Great Opportunity for Gambling Companies
The 2018 World Cup is expected to be the largest global betting event, although analyzers admit that a large portion of the wagers will be made on the black market. The football championship is, nonetheless, projected to exceed by a significant margin the estimated $1.5 billion wagered by British punters on the World Cup four years ago. Looking at global statistics, it immediately becomes clear that the money that would be bet across the world are in the tens of billions.
But this is just one of the many sectors that see huge profits during sports events of that magnitude – for instance, FIFA took in around $4 billion from TV rights and marketing deals in 2014. The increased interest in the football tournament will be financially beneficial for every single sector even remotely related to the World Cup – retail, advertising, tourism, hospitality and even construction on a local level, and many more. As expected, many companies in the gambling industry are also eying the World Cup in Russia as it can be a great opportunity for them.
Last week, NetEnt introduced World Cup Free Round Widget, a customizable, football-themed tool which can be used by online casino operators to award their customers with free spins. Now, the company brings all the action from the games in Russia to its Live Casino. Last week, another gambling giant also introduced a World Cup-themed offering. Canadian company The Stars Group kicked off its promotion Stars £100 Million Challenge on the PokerStars, BetStars and PokerStars Casino platforms. It gives punters from the United Kingdom and several Scandinavian countries to win £100 million if they make the perfect prediction for all 64 matches during the World Cup.
