A football season that never ends is only a dream for North America’s legions of NFL fans, but for the IGT PlaySports Trading Advisory Team it’s the reality.
As soon as the last flake of confetti has settled onto the Super Bowl grid iron, the IGT PlaySports Trading Advisory Team gets to work to ensure their customers are prepared to meet their players’ needs and drive profitability in time for next season’s opening kick-off.
Tony DiTommaso, Head of Trading for IGT PlaySports, sets about collaborating with his team when most people are taking summer vacations to put in place the measures that will ensure his trading customers across North America are well-positioned for success.
“Our trading team is really what separates us from our competition,” DiTommaso said. “We are U.S. based and possess over two hundred years of combined experience booking U.S. and international sports trading. This is an invaluable resource for our customers and is pivotable in our goal to be a trusted supplier dedicated to driving profitability and taking operators to the next level.”
The football season is looked upon by sportsbooks as the best opportunity to maximize their profits, something for which PlaySports is uniquely qualified to address with trading advisory services that assist operators in defining aspects of their offering such as risk tolerance, pricing and promotions during high-traffic periods.
“One of the things we do immediately after the season is to schedule discussions with our customers,” DiTommaso said. “Our customers look forward to meeting with the trading team to talk about the technical side of things, where there might be a new launch, system upgrades, etc. Also, the pricing, how they performed, and what to expect in the pipeline.”
Everything the IGT PlaySports Trading Advisory Team works toward is driving performance for sportsbook operators by offering a proven, powerful platform that can handle the pressures of NFL season by maximizing uptimes and helping operators optimize their sportsbooks efficient wagering combined with self-service betting technologies than can drive incremental revenue throughout a casino floor.
DiTommaso and his team keep abreast and are keenly aware of changing betting behaviors, a quality which helps set IGT PlaySports apart from the competition. The accomplished sportsbook veteran with over four decades of experience is keenly aware of how the industry has pivoted with so much content.
“There appears to be a little less attention paid to the pricing and more attention paid to the content,” he observed. “I am all about offering fair prices at fair limits. At the same time, I am concerned about profitability, maximizing customer profits, and keeping our customers out of harm’s way.
“We are always interested in sitting down with our customers and learning how we can best align our efforts and our resources to produce a product more conducive to their specific needs, while at the same time helping and maintaining that level of profitability.”
DiTommaso acknowledged that the IGT PlaySports Trading Advisory Team devotes a considerable amount of time meeting internally and with their customers discussing how to enhance their product and services with an emphasis on continuous improvement.
“The legendary NFL head coach Vince Lombardi always said to ‘strive for perfection and settle for excellence’,” he said. “In that spirit I am always pushing the team. A component of this is utilizing real-time communication with our customers. When they reach out to us, our team will often respond in a minute or less.”
Player profiling, according to DiTommaso, has become an exceptionally large part of the industry. He said that PlaySports provides a second set of eyes for their customers, a valuable service that can drive performance for sportsbook operators.
He gave the example of a player betting off-market pricing and shortly after the wager was placed notice was given to the market moving in their direction.
“We are constantly offering recommendations and our insight based upon our professional experience on where our customers may want to be,” DiTommaso noted. “In the end, it is always the customer’s decision, but we are here to support and inform them along the way.
“What we strive to do for our customers is to help them understand their players’ preferences and set strategies that meet their specific needs. We also offer our insight on the market in certain jurisdictions and assist them in establishing pricing that they are comfortable with based upon liability.”
DiTommaso and his team have recognized that women are getting more interested in sports wagering fueled in part by the higher profile exerted by the WNBA.
“The younger generation seems to be more interested in quick results, such as the first player to score, which is indicative of the pivot in the industry to more player props, team props, and same game parlays,” he said. “The in-play product, of which micro-betting is a variation, has grown in popularity.”
IGT PlaySports is dedicated to serving as strategic partners to their clients, ensuring comprehensive preparation and ongoing support in advance of and during the NFL season.
Decades of experience among team members of all ages, striving for innovation with the knowledge that adapting modern technologies is vital to helping their customers stay competitive while offering expanded content beyond the norm.
“The difference between IGT PlaySports and our competition is our team. It’s passion, level of excellence, attention to detail, and our immediate correspondence with our partners.” DiTommaso said.
