The global media and technology company Verizon Media and the international sports-betting and gaming operator Entain (formerly known as GVC Holdings) recently announced a global innovation alliance to develop new opportunities across interactive sports and entertainment.
Verizon Media and Entain will collaborate to develop a first-of-its-kind highly immersive proof of concept virtual reality experience that will combine live sports viewing with interactive layers of sports data and gaming. Consumers will be able to participate in sports events, check data, socialise with friends, and place bets on Entain platforms. Entain brands are Ladbrokes, bwin, PartyPoker, and BetMGM in the USA, which are co-owned with MGM Resorts.
New research has been revealed that suggests that technology is driving the market for immersive experiences in both the gambling and e-sports sectors utilizing 5G and virtual reality. Some of the findings said, across all markets, men aged 25 to 39 are the most likely to be innovators or early adopters and are the key audience for e-sports and gaming. Fifty percent of e-sports participants are in this demographic, with most using social media and more than half enjoying wagers. When it comes to conventional sport, interaction is also increasingly important to this audience, with 31% of 25 to 39-year-olds and 34% of over 55’s also engaging digitally.
Shay Segev, CEO of Entain said, “To win in the future we need to understand where consumers will be in five, ten years’ time and work with other global businesses also investing in that,” Segev added, “We envisage consumers meeting at a game with friends, who could in fact be elsewhere, using virtual reality headsets to watch, interact and share the experience together and, potentially, compete between themselves at half time or feel like they’re on the pitch with the players.”
Guru Gowrappan, CEO, Verizon Media also commented, “This new alliance takes the collaboration between our two companies to a new level and will allow us both to maximize new opportunities across sports-betting, content and entertainment.”
