April 2008 - Speed, accuracy and timing. No, these are not the attributes of some new boxing phenomenon that has just emerged on the scene, but rather the qualities required of content suppliers to the online betting and gaming industry.

James Garmston, recently-appointed as head of betting and gaming at PA Sport, says his company has the history and track record that make PA Sport the leading data and content provider to the online betting industry. Then again, speed and accuracy are virtually taken for granted these days, what matters even more to Garmston is "the trust and integrity we have built up in our brand", he says, "it is vital and we hang our colours on that". Trust and integrity indeed are such valuable attributes because they are so intangible.

For Garmston, PA Sport does this through the breadth of formats in which it can offer its services. "The industry wants to offer informed opinions and the best way to do that is to get accurate data with good editorial, without punters going to different sources to get that information.
"Because we can deliver our content through photos, editorial, multimedia, data and because we're a one-stop-shop, we're trusted and can accommodate content across a broad spectrum of companies and channels."

Garmston adds that the one-stop-shop does not mean a one-size-fits-all' approach from his company, the service can be completely customised to suit a client's needs.

"We work with all the main operators in the UK and offer off-the-shelf packages but also build totally customised products, as we did for our live-match centre for William Hill and Virgin. We also produce Paddy Power's Paddy Times as a form guide. Because of the amount and the different ways in which we cover events, it is very rare two different companies will ever want the same service. As a result, every bookie has an edge when PA Sport supplies their information because it will be customised, differentiated and tailored to what the operator wants," Garmston explains. So does it always come back to stickiness and operators keeping their punters on their site?

"To an extent, but just as importantly the bookmaker wants to be a trusted source where punters can get information and use it to make an informed decision. Just like the way people log onto the BBC because they trust it, operators want to reach the same level of trustworthiness. As consumers we go to certain places to get our news and results and the idea is for the bookmakers to be that place for sports. It has to be accurate, which is where PA Sport comes in, and we have value added services like the live match centre and our multimedia offering differentiates us."

With in-running having achieved such high levels of prominence in sports betting, Garmston says the mixture of live-betting commentary and sports images can act as a strong call to action for punters and PA Sport "works closely with how it (the commentary) should be written with our partners so it isn't standard line-by-line. It's strong, independent editorial, which the bookmakers want, and combined with our preview articles, the aim is to create an environment where punters make an informed decision and are using their opinions to bet on the events".

Industry consolidation is a topic that keeps cropping up and Garmston says it will help a company like PA Sport. "It helps us in two ways: large companies are generally more professional and in turn make the industry more professional. Also, if two of our clients ever merged it is unlikely they would want exactly the same information. Rather they would look for one feature to complement another or expand their product range."

And as bookmakers look to European markets to broaden their reach, Garmston says PA Sport's network of press sources across the continent enables it to follow in their footsteps and supply content with the attributes always needed by his clients. Speed, accuracy and timing.

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