Phenix is the only company that can reliably deliver broadcast quality video streams to 500,000+ concurrent viewers while maintaining a live streaming delay of less than ½ second to anyone, anywhere in the world. Period.
For the third year in a row, Phenix delivered sub-second video for top betting platforms offering in play betting - more commonly known as a Watch and Bet experience - at last week’s Cheltenham Festival. Through its partnership with Racecourse Media Group (“RMG”) and Stats Perform, Phenix continues to prove its platform stability and resiliency at global scale by delivering video to millions of fans as they join their favorite sportsbook for a Watch and Bet experience within a few seconds of each other, just before a race begins.
But this wasn’t a one-time event planned out and optimized for a well-coordinated private test. This is the largest horse racing week of the year in the U.K, a highly publicized festival with seven races a day over the course of four days: 28 races in all, totaling more than 5 million punters watching the races and placing real-time bets on their favorite sports betting app.
The Festival averaged nearly 300,000 concurrent viewers per race. Punters could watch the race and place their bets in real-time - a true Watch and Bet experience.
Horse racing fans take their sport seriously; in the U.K., it’s second only to football (“soccer” for Americans) in terms of gross gaming revenue. Watching the horses and the jockeys as they enter the paddock and then as they are just about to start each race are the deciding moments before bets are placed. Imagine if the betting window were closed because the video of the race you were hoping to watch was delayed by 10 or 20 or even 30 seconds or more! That’s hundreds of millions in handle that would be lost. Thankfully, that’s not the case as RMG switched their video streaming provider to Phenix three years ago so punters can watch and bet on the race on over 50 sportsbook apps throughout the U.K. and Ireland.
Further, fans watching a race - or a game - are more engaged and placing more bets than those who are not watching. According to a recent Variety article quoting a study by CRG Global, betting on a sport ramps up consumer engagement with that sport. For example, two-thirds of those who bet on NFL games say they watch more than usual when gambling.
The bottom line is simple: offer fans the ability to watch the horse race - or any sport for that matter - on your sportsbook and they will be more engaged for longer and place more bets. This leads to more handle and thus, more net gaming revenue. Everyone wins!