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Sports and Gaming – Playing by a New Set of Rules


The pandemic has brought the sports industry to its knees but against the backdrop of global crisis, opportunities have arisen for others. While the sports business is set to lose as much as US$61.6 billion1 in missed revenues by the end of the year, the gaming sector, on the other hand, will generate revenues of $159.3 billion, a +9.3% year-on-year increase.2
Although largely driven by unforeseen circumstances, the pandemic has highlighted the large gulf in the prioritisation of fan experience between the two. As OZ Sports CEO Gudjon Gudjonsson explains, the sports industry has much to learn from gaming if it is to maintain and grow its global fanbase.
If there is one positive element to come out of this all for the sports industry, it is that leagues, federations and teams have had to rethink their way of doing business. The pandemic has accelerated innovation on various fronts. This is especially the case with the return of sport behind closed doors, with the need to remotely manage the production of leagues and make fans feel part of the live experience from the comfort of their homes.
The temporary state of the live sports sector, with limited or no fans in stadiums, has only amplified a bigger and more recognisable challenge. Pandemic or no pandemic, studies show that 90% of fans are unable to watch their favourite team in their home stadium due to factors such as location or finance.
At OZ Sports, what COVID-19 has taught us is that we need to accelerate our vision in making the fan experience more interactive and engaging. The new generation of fans expects to be able to share their experiences without geographical boundaries. OZ is keeping sports more relevant, broadening the fanbase by opening up the physical stadium.
This is where we have looked to gaming. The prioritisation of user engagement has seen games companies constantly explore new ways to deliver content to consumers. As a result, gaming platforms are becoming social networks in their own right and established social platforms are seizing this opportunity to invest further in games to maintain and grow their user database. Gaming is driving forward the reality of the metaverse – virtual social spaces that are always open, always on, and always expanding.
So, what does that mean for the sports industry? We are still in the early days of sports broadcasting, and there is a lot we can learn from gaming. Our thinking around the intersection of sports and gaming can be seen everywhere in the OZ Sports strategy. It’s in how we think, how we work, and how we innovate as a company. As a tech business with influential investors from the gaming industry, we foster a different culture than traditional sports broadcasting companies.
Our tech stack is ours, from end-to-end. We mostly leverage technologies on how we do sports production that has until now mostly belonged to gaming companies, which opens up a totally new world for us. At the core, we have our gaming engine, built on a robust machine learning software stack that analyses what is going on in the game, in real-time. From there we further develop our broadcasting technologies, with a layer for services like augmented graphics and avatars, to applications like tracking or a more intuitive replay system, to name but a few. This allows us to work differently as a team of innovators and compete more creatively as a company.
By embracing everything that the gaming industry is positively doing to engage with its fans, we see the world of sports broadcasting becoming far more interesting than it is today. Out of the pandemic, we will see new companies that have succeeded, and these new leaders will foster far more vibrant communities around live events. Gen Z will have emerged with different needs and the more popular short format of sports storytelling will continue to rise.
New exciting technologies will continue to surface in the market that better serve fans’ sports esteem. Use of avatars will be the everyday normal, by representing the digital you in the new metaverse. Fans will be able to instantly express their emotions in the moment of the game, wherever they may be in the world, empowering fans to communicate in ways that are difficult to accomplish in today’s world.
The future of live sport is an exciting one; by embracing gaming technologies OZ Sports will continue to innovate at this intersection. Sports broadcasting as we currently know it is about to change forever, and we’re excited to be at the forefront of that transformation!
Source: Latest News on European Gaming Media Network
This is a Syndicated News piece. Photo credits or photo sources can be found on the source article: Sports and Gaming – Playing by a New Set of Rules

Latest News
THE UAE LOTTERY CONFIRMS FIRST AED 100 MILLION GRAND PRIZE WINNER
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It’s official, The UAE Lottery’s first AED 100 Million Grand Prize has been won, and verification is now underway!
The UAE Lottery is delighted to confirm this historic milestone for our winner, our organization, and the UAE’s entertainment and gaming landscape.
As part of our standard operating procedures, we are conducting due diligence to ensure that all internal checks, security protocols, and General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority compliance requirements are fulfilled before further details on our winner are shared and the prize is awarded.
Responsible gaming, player safety, and operational transparency remain at the heart of everything we do. Safeguarding the integrity of our draws and maintaining the trust of all players continue to be our highest priorities.
We will share more details about the lucky winner once all verification steps have been finalized.
The post THE UAE LOTTERY CONFIRMS FIRST AED 100 MILLION GRAND PRIZE WINNER appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
ELA Games’ Buffalo Force Charges to Outstanding Results: 62% GGR Growth in Just 3 Weeks
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Stunning visuals and strong performance make Buffalo Force a standout success
ELA Games’ Buffalo Force has quickly risen to the top of performance charts, just three weeks after its release, showing strong player engagement metrics and turnover growth.
The Wild West-themed brand-new title blends visually rich artwork, dynamic gameplay, and immersive atmospheres to create engaging experiences for players and value for operators. The game showcases ELA Games’ rapid rise to become a leading game development studio, capable of pushing the boundaries of the gaming industry with its innovative solutions.
Inside the Data: How ELA’s Buffalo Force Instantly Soared
This month, Buffalo Force exceeded all plans and surpassed expectations across key performance metrics. The audience immediately embraced the product, with operators reporting positive responses from player bases. With the game’s momentum still building, even stronger results may be on the horizon.
Growth metrics during the first 3 weeks after release highlight Buffalo Force as one of the studio’s strongest titles to date. It showcases the game’s powerful retention appeal and the ability to deliver games that perform consistently across regions, captivating new audiences:
- Actives growth +26%
- Turnover +38%
- GGR total growth +62%
- Rounds count +29%
These results reflect a rise in overall player activity, indicating higher session frequency and more wagers placed. This shows that Buffalo Force has high replay value and is a game that encourages engagement.
[Video https://youtu.be/pBHPyi2vHlY]
Marharyta Yerina, ELA Games’ Managing Director, commented, “Buffalo Force represents the progress our studio has made in understanding what players love and what operators need. What we see with the game’s instant success is a sign that our approach is working and that each new release will set the bar higher in terms of engagement, performance, and enjoyment.”
ELA Games’ Portfolio Continues to Expand
Buffalo Force’s success reflects ELA Games’ development approach, where each release enriches the studio’s portfolio, adding creative innovation, visually rich design, and operator value. Other recent additions, such as Shoot Happens or Rabbit Winpot Deluxe, reinforce this trend, creating a balanced catalogue with plenty of variety.
Joker Winpot is another standout title for ELA Games that has received widespread acclaim. It received key nominations by various institutions for its creativity and innovation, underscoring how ELA Games’ developments are recognised by peers and press alike. Buffalo Force positions itself as a key game for the studio that will contend for similar commercial success and industry recognition.
The post ELA Games’ Buffalo Force Charges to Outstanding Results: 62% GGR Growth in Just 3 Weeks appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
Flashscore expands Follow Player feature to basketball and ice hockey NBA and NHL stars
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New Follow Player feature lets fans track their favourite basketball and ice hockey players with real-time notifications, including NBA and NHL
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The NBA competition page received over 1.1 billion opens last season alone, demonstrating the market appetite for more detailed match statistics fans want to access
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This follows the launch of the platform across football in September, activated by 1.3 million fans so far
Flashscore, the world’s most popular live scores and sports news app, has expanded its Follow Player functionality to basketball and ice hockey, allowing users to get real-time updates on their favourite basketball and ice hockey stars in the NBA, NHL and other leagues.
The launch follows the success of the feature for global football fans, launched in September. Within two months of being launched, 1.3 million fans are actively using Follow Player for football, averaging five players each, resulting in around 6.5 million player favourites.
The enhancement allows Flashscore’s 100 million-plus monthly users to add up to 100 of their favourite players to receive personalised notifications. Updates include alerts on whether a player is in the starting lineup, their in-game stats like goals and assists, and post-match performance ratings.
The expansion comes as Flashscore data reveals huge user engagement with the NBA and NHL during the 2024-25 season. In the last NBA season, there were more than 1.1 billion match detail opens across 1,316 games, with an average of around 320,000 users per match.
The most-followed team was the Los Angeles Lakers, attracting an average of 515,000 users to their games. In ice hockey and the NHL, last season saw more than 783 million match detail opens across 1,420 games. The Washington Capitals were the most popular team, with an average of 390,000 users per game.
Company data shows basketball and ice hockey are among the most popular sports with Flashscore users, beyond only football and tennis.
Tomáš Pondělík, Chief Product Officer at Flashscore, said: “Following the hugely successful launch of Follow Player for our football fans, expansion to Basketball and Ice Hockey is the next logical step. Fandom is evolving, and we’re seeing a significant shift from fans, especially with the younger generation, following only their favourite teams to a deeper interest in individual players. We see the same trend in basketball and hockey, where superstars often have a global following that transcends team loyalties. Being able to offer our users the chance to follow real-time updates from their favourite football, basketball and ice hockey stars sets Flashscore apart from other live scores apps.
“Our community has been asking for this feature, and the data shows a clear appetite for in-depth information. With Follow Player now available for basketball and ice hockey, fans can track their heroes in real time with the fast, non-intrusive notifications they expect from us. We’re already working on adding more meaningful player data to give fans a richer understanding of performance, and this is just the beginning.”
The post Flashscore expands Follow Player feature to basketball and ice hockey NBA and NHL stars appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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