FanDuel doubles down on RG focus with launch of real-time deposit monitor
When a player goes on a heater in the NBA playoffs, a team can erase a double-digit deficit within minutes, handing sharp losses to pregame and in-game bettors alike.
Twice last week, the New York Knicks pulled off comebacks of 20 or more points to stun the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics. In this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers made NHL history by rallying in five straight contests to notch victories. Quite often, the runs can prompt bettors to chase losses, leading to depleted accounts. A small subset of bettors may rush back to their apps to deposit and reload.
On Wednesday, FanDuel unveiled a sophisticated responsible gaming tool to help them make informed decisions about the level of funds they deposit with the site. The online sportsbook operator launched Real-Time Check-In, its new responsible gaming technology. At the SBC Summit Americas conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, FanDuel outlined a product that combines data with machine learning to analyse and model personalised deposit behaviour in real time. FanDuel’s launch coincides with the seventh anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic PASPA anniversary.
“We know a deposit is a key moment in the customer journey,” said Cory Fox, who serves as senior vice president of public policy and sustainability at FanDuel. “Now, we’re able to use machine learning to provide a new level of support through Real-Time Check-In encouraging customers to reflect on how much money they’re depositing and if it’s within their budget.”
Self-regulation amid scrutiny of industry’s ‘social license’
As a congressman from New York looks to mobilise support for a federal framework on sports betting, the debate on government mandates for deposit limits has intensified. A provision in US Rep. Paul Tonko’s SAFE Bet Act pertains to issues surrounding affordability. The section prohibits operators from accepting more than five deposits from a customer over a 24-hour period. On the state level, a New York state assemblyman is sponsoring a similar proposal.
Although sportsbook operators stress that compulsive gamblers make up only a small cohort of their user base, internet searches for assistance with gambling addiction have surged.
With some headlines blaring about the perils of compulsive gambling, Fox cautions that the industry’s “social licence” may be at risk. The hazards, he notes, should be enough to push operators to prove that their platforms are sustainable for users.
The product is an extension of another RG initiative FanDuel rolled out toward the end of the NFL’s last regular season. By February, FanDuel found that approximately 3.5 million customers — or around half its user base — utilised that new My Spend responsible gambling platform.
The dashboard provides customers with a detailed breakdown of betting and deposit activity. Armed with insights into their own decision making, a customer can use My Spend as a tool for making deposits within their means.
Empowering customer decision making
The Real-Time Check-In initiative takes it one step further. The product uses machine learning to predict an expected deposit amount per customer that day. In determining an expected value, FanDuel runs through its casino and sportsbook databases in North America.
The algorithms are trained to evaluate a trove of personalised customer data covering deposits and withdrawals, bonusing and wagering activity, according to Jill Watkins, senior commercial director of responsible gaming at FanDuel.
The models are built to respond to fluctuations in gambling volume based on the daily sports calendar, Watkins notes. On a typical NFL Sunday, a customer’s deposit levels will likely exceed every other day of the week, due to the popularity of the sport.
For the most part, deposits tend to be lower during slow periods of the sports calendar, such as a Tuesday evening in the middle of the summer. FanDuel’s models will account for that, Watkins explains.
An opportunity to reset their own behaviour
If a customer makes a wager that is inconsistent with their normal betting patterns, he or she will receive an alert from FanDuel. From there, a customer can review their spending habits, set a deposit limit or lower the original amount.
In early testing, FanDuel noticed that a sizeable number of customers who took part set deposit limits. The trends leave Fox encouraged at players’ awareness in understanding and controlling their own play. FanDuel has offered a limited version of the product in pilot testing for several months.
A key component of the technology centers on the timing of the alert. FanDuel had the luxury of leaning on Sportsbet, its sister brand under Flutter in Australia, in building the technology. Sportsbet has offered its own version of real-time check.
From a tech standpoint, FanDuel faced some hurdles in building the product. For instance, engineers needed to build the system in a way that it fired right away, as soon as a bettor made a deposit attempt.
Nevertheless, Watkins noted that the rollout went “incredibly smoothly” for FanDuel’s first foray into a buildout fraught with real-time complexities. Ultimately, the company’s RG team is intrigued by the possibility of creating proactive safeguards for customers, with a real-time check in the middle of their deposit flow.
FanDuel will make the deposit tool available to customers in every state where it offers online sports betting. It also plans to expand the product to horse racing and daily fantasy sports later this year.