Thomas Rosander has stepped in as chief executive at Luckbox, committed to the company’s broader strategy and cognizant of the challenges that need addressing. Regardless of any difficulties that lie ahead, Rosander is optimistic about the future and does not doubt that esports betting is a profitable vertical.
Q: Thomas, you step at the helm of Luckbox and Real Luck Group at a time of tremendous upsurge for the company’s betting platform. What is your vision for Luckbox and esports betting in general? Does it differ from the company’s strategy?
In many ways, it will be a continuation of what is already happening at Luckbox. I arrived as Chief Customer Officer just over three months ago with responsibility for operations, so many of the changes I will be making have already been put into motion. From a strategy perspective, our focus is on optimizing for profitable player acquisition with improvements to the funnel and our platform. Then, we can really begin our player acquisition efforts to scale up quickly.
Q: There is a lot of speculation about how lucrative the esports betting vertical is. Many mainstream sportsbooks are still reluctant to embrace it. What is your own opinion of esports betting today?
Obviously, it’s not easy, and that’s why you have to optimize to make sure every marketing dollar you spend is as efficient as possible. But there is no doubt the esports betting vertical can be profitable and, while you say mainstream sportsbooks are reluctant to embrace it, most of them have or are working towards a strategy for esports because they know that this demographic is their future customers. Just like sports, esports is also a superb acquisition model, and cross-selling to a casino increases the value of players.
Q: We are coming out of a pandemic, albeit slowly, and with this, some alternative forms of entertainment are becoming available. Do you reckon the increase in consumer interest towards esports betting will carry over after we have defeated COVID-19?
This is a question that’s been asked a lot since the esports boom during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, and we already see evidence that esports is no flash in the pan. Most mainstream forms of sport and entertainment have returned in some fashion, and esports has not really seen a negative impact – the numbers have remained strong. Covid accelerated esports’ growth and put more eyes on the industry, and it’s here to stay.
Q: Has esports betting integrity become an issue with the influx of new consumers flocking to explore this form of entertainment?
Integrity is so important to the betting industry, not just in esports, and operators, governing bodies, and member associations such as ESIC work hard to clamp down on corruption. I haven’t seen any evidence that an increase in activity has correlated with a decrease in fair play, but, certainly, it’s something we all must be mindful of. Just as you scale up operations such as support to help more customers, you must also increase your vigilance and risk management, so the two go hand-in-hand.
Q: What are your expectations of 2021 in the context of Lockbox’s business?
For us, this year is about healthy growth. We are well-financed thanks to our investors, and we are now building out the team and improving our platform to give us a superb foundation from where we can really ramp up our customer acquisition efforts, with significant but optimized marketing spend to seize this wonderful opportunity in the esports betting space.
