Disclaimer: This is a part of a sponsored content series with Rivalry.gg
One of the newest bookmakers to be attracting attention in the esports gambling space is Rivalry.gg. The bookmaker soft launched in February, and since then has been moving fast towards establishing themselves as a both serious and somewhat unique player in the betting realm.
Rivalry aims to differentiate themselves from traditional bookmakers in a few ways, we found the most interesting to be their focal point of “making betting more fun.” For Rivalry, creating an engaging atmosphere boils down to three things: content, community and experience. So how exactly does a bookmaker achieve this?
We spoke to Kevin Wimer, Chief Marketing Officer at Rivarly.gg, in an exclusive interview to discuss their strategy.
Content is king
The now old adage ‘Content is king’ is one Rivalry has embraced. Many, more ‘old school’ bookmakers meanwhile seem to consider creating original content in addition to offering betting markets as unnecessary, burdensome or both. Upon heading over to Rivalry.gg, you’ll see esports stories of all kinds right on their homepage – from the most recent news to betting previews and player interviews.
“We ultimately want to make watching esports even more fun and exciting. While our core focus is giving fans a safe, trusted place to bet, we are also heavily focused on creating content fans will enjoy,” the site states. Rivalry also sport their own YouTube page where you can locate all of the video content being released.
Rivalry chooses to invest in the underlying stories of players and teams, incorporating content that provides background to the matches you’ll be wagering on. “We all love watching tournaments but we found that if we know the story behind the players and teams, it becomes even more exciting. We aren’t telling fans who to bet on, but try to provide narrative that lends itself to outcome implications and gets you more excited to watch the match.” There’s a lot of truth behind this, having a bit of knowledge on the history behind a skirmish typically tends to heighten the experience in general, let alone with some money on the line; acknowledging droplets of bad blood in a clash between two teams can bring a match to life, so we’re happy to see Rivalry chooses to clutch that emotion.
Machine Deal
In this quest for providing pro-gaming enthusiasts with content they can enjoy, Rivalry inked a partnership deal with none other than British Counter-Strike: Global Offensive host and commentator, Alex “MACHINE” Richardson. The deal will yield a streamline of unique videos from MACHINE as well as some exclusive behind-the-scenes content from tournaments and events.
“We want to work with content creators and personalities who can help us to tell those stories, not just to provide content for our users but also to support the creators themselves. MACHINE has been doing this for a long, long time. He’s incredibly talented. We want to benefit from his skill set but also make sure we’re supporting him financially so he can continue to do what he does best”. Here’s one example of Machine’s creations with Rivalry.
All about the community
Community should be an important element of any organisation, but we wanted to dig a little deeper into why Rivalry dedicates such a particularly heavy focus on ensuring their users feel a part of one whilst on-site. Wimer told us: “At the end of the day, we’re all about creating a great community experience. This is all about making esports more fun for fans. We see this as being a mixture of betting (pre-match and also live), content, live chatting, and much more. As former players ourselves and long-time members of this community we know the value of authenticity.”
“We aren’t here to create a gambling product to shove down everyone’s throats. We want to create a community that is a part of our vision and works with us to create something that fans everywhere will enjoy. Some of that is betting based but a lot of what we do has nothing at all to do with betting.”
As Kevin mentioned, even their 24/7 live chat feature is bolstered by the use of well-known video game characters representing Rivalry staff eager to help you resolve any issue you may encounter. With long time Halo fans in our midst at Team ESI, being greeted by ‘Master Chief’ through the chat 
window was certainly an enjoyable surprise – for that reason, we simply had to bring this up in our conversation with Kevin. “Our entire team has adopted gaming-related personas just because we absolutely love gaming.”
All of these quirky little features are done with one thing in mind: to make betting more fun. Rivalry’s mission is clear through marketing, branding, and these discussions that they seek to provide an enthralling experience for every bettor that uses their platform, rather than just turn a profit. “We don’t want to be ‘just another betting site’. We want to create a community and esports experience that will really resonate with fans. That means more than just offering betting. This is an entirely different generation that is just coming of age and developing an interest in betting, these are not your 40 year old punters.”
Many bookmakers tend to give this tough, rigid impression when you visit their sites – Rivalry isn’t quite like that. This characteristic prompted the question of how the esportsbook is balancing fun with the seriousness of real-money betting. On this point, Wimer explained: “We are gamers and esports fans that are making a betting site. Whenever we checked out existing options out there, it was completely overwhelming. I just wanted to put $5 on a Fnatic match but couldn’t make sense of the endless tables and grids.
“Experienced bettors have no problems with this. This complicated setup is standard for them. But as we target fans who may not yet be into betting, we wanted to focus on making it an easy, painless process. As we develop this product, we try to stay completely focused on making it a seamless, easy process that’s not intimidating. We think we’ve done a great job at that so far!”
While the question of teetering ‘fun’ with betting indicated a potential conflict, Rivalry has been able to achieve symmetry in this area. At no point do you feel the quirkiness of Rivalry overpower the site’s purpose of esports betting – rather, you may crack a smile or two as you observe the small Easter eggs such as the Master Chief representative or the spirited language throughout the site.
All in all, Rivalry receives a passing grade amongst a crowded sportsbook landscape; if you’re fancying a flutter after reading this, feel free to surf over to Rivalry.gg anytime to claim your free $1.50 bet, on the house. No strings attached beyond creating an account.
Disclaimer: This is a part of a sponsored content series with Rivalry.gg