PandaScore is all about data, Artificial Intelligence and, of course, esports. The esports industry is vast – with tournaments running every single day – so the amount of information and data available is understandably incredible, but as Flavien Guillocheau, CEO of PandaScore explains, it’s what’s done with the data that counts.
Ahead of ESI London, where Flavien is among a number of key industry figures who will be sharing some of their knowledge, we spoke to him about PandaScore, the upcoming conference, and why live data is vital in the future of esports betting.
Esports Insider: Can you start by introducing yourself and PandaScore?
Flavien Guillocheau: I’m Flavien, the CEO of PandaScore. I created the company 3 years ago after an experience as a Gamification Designer in a tech school in Paris called 42. I’ve always been passionate about video games but also sports. And seeing how poor the overall fan experience in esports was, I decided to build something. Three years ago it was very hard to build a B2C product because data was lacking, so that’s why we decided to build a live data provider and we are now evolving towards in-play odds providing.
“The opportunity to meet people from the industry is always very important.”
ESI: You’re speaking on the “Data – the key to a successful esports betting product” panel at ESI London; what about this topic makes it an interesting one to discuss in your eyes?
Flavien: I think esports betting is missing something right now. I think it misses the proper product to make it appealing for fans to bet on esports, and building a great esports product relies on what makes esports so interesting. Live is key in a more intense way than in traditional sports, esports is online, and when you’re watching an esport competition you’re on your computer doing other stuff: playing, watching stats and why not betting. Secondly, interaction is what makes esports so special. You can chat with the community or with streamers, or you can try a champion you just saw stomping in an esports match.
So when you think about live and interaction as core values for esports fans, the betting product needs to take those things into account. I believe it all comes down to live data, with the proper live data and odds feeds you can build a real interactive experience where fans can bet on which team is going to win the next team fight, or which player will kill someone with a grenade in CS:GO.
That’s the value we want to bring here, we have a very deep live data feed and we’ve been building a reliable odds feed on top of it. I also believe that what is enabled by data for esports betting will also impact traditional sports betting in the future.
Data – the key to a successful esports betting product
In every betting product, accurate data is key to success, but in esports where the games are the IP of companies, where they’re patched several times a month at times, where team rosters change with little warning and new products are incoming regularly, it is both absolutely essential and more challenging.
Learn from the data providers on how they look at this ever changing environment and how they tackle the everyday challenges that the esports industry are throwing at them.
Speakers
- Oskar Froberg – CEO – Abios
- Mario Ovcharov – CEO – UltraPlay
- Flavien Guillocheau – CEO – PandaScore
- Mark Balch – Head of Esports – Sportradar
Moderator
Luke Cotton – COO – Code Red Esports
ESI: What was it about ESI London that drew you into taking part?
Flavien: Esports betting right now is booming but still at a very early stage.
The opportunity to meet people from the industry is always very important, especially early on when all the key industry makers are not yet identified by everyone.
“We are attending ESI London to meet with companies keen to open up to the potential of esports.”
ESI: How does speaking at conferences benefit yourself and PandaScore, and what are you looking to take away from your experience in September?
Flavien: We’ve always had the same vision from the beginning of PandaScore, which is that we want to help companies to build their esports product with data. We are attending ESI London to meet with companies keen to open up to the potential of esports; to understand their problems and to see what solutions we can offer through our live data and odds feeds.
ESI: How would you like esports organisations to better utilise data in the future?
Flavien: My first thought on this is thinking without limits.
“Data is not a constraint anymore, it’s an enabler”
There is no data that can’t be analysed – some things are harder, some are easier but in the end, Artificial Intelligence will enable bigger volume and greater detail. So the product needs to be envisaged without thinking of data as a limitation. Data is not a constraint anymore, it’s an enabler. We’re able to process the minimap with no latency on MOBAs, to know which team is where on PUBG. The products you can build with this kind of data is limitless.
I also think esports is the best playground to try a new experience with data since statistics is part of the life of every gamer whereas in sports it’s not as mainstream. But the impact of what esports organisations are going to launch in the esports realm will go beyond and change sports as a whole.
Flavien Guillocheau, CEO of PandaScore will be speaking at ESI London – the biggest esports conference of the year. The event runs from September 18-20th but it’s not too late to book your tickets – see below!
Ready to book your ticket? You can do so here!
You can use the code ESIAUG at checkout for a 20% discount
