A year has passed since GG.BET brought their global brand’s extensive experience to Ukraine. Sergii Mischchenko, CEO of GGBET UA, discussed what makes Ukrainian bettors unique and the challenges his team has faced over this period.

Entering Ukraine’s betting market

GG.BET is known as a top esports betting company which has contributed to the development of esports on the global stage. Those who have followed us for a long time may be asking why our brand decided to obtain a local license in Ukraine and develop, among other things, a presence in the sports betting sector, which wasn’t previously a priority.

There are a few reasons for this and factors that influenced the decision. The GG.BET brand was created and set up by Ukrainian gaming fans. Our team includes many specialists from Ukraine, and this is the key to how we understand the context: which types of sports and disciplines people here love, what level of service they expect, which activities they want to take part in, and much more. Sport is very well-loved here, and we wanted to work with the industry ourselves.

In 2020, the Ukrainian iGaming market began to be regulated; the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries was created, which was responsible for issuing licenses. This triggered a new surge in the development of the iGaming industry: more and more brands started appearing, both new brands and those who evolved an existing brand for the new market. 

Competition caused the standard of products and services to increase and the approach to communicating with customers to change. By this time, GG.BET already had lots of experience in the global market, not only from a product perspective but also from a brand communications perspective, from partnerships and sponsorships to creating exclusive content and events. We understood that we could be competitive and knew what we could offer Ukrainian customers and sports industry players (teams, sports organisations, etc.).

In 2022, the full-scale war began in Ukraine. For some brands, this was a reason to stop or reduce investment due to the high risk, but for us it was one of our arguments for entering the Ukrainian market. 

As a brand with Ukrainian roots, we wanted to support the country’s economy by purchasing a license, paying taxes, and creating new jobs. Plus, this gave us the opportunity to support teams who, despite all the difficulties, continued and still continue to take part in tournaments and play for their fans.

Profile and preferences of Ukrainian customers

At GGBET UA, we regularly analyse the market and our platform’s data. Studies have shown that 72% of bettors in Ukraine are men, the majority of whom are between the ages of 31 and 40 and are married. 80% of all bets on the GGBET UA platform are placed on traditional sport. 57% of bets are placed on football, basketball makes up 13%, 11% are on table tennis, 9% are on tennis, and 4% are on volleyball. 

Counter-Strike is leading the way in esports (44%), and virtual football is firmly in second place (31%). Dota 2 is responsible for 22% of bets, while VALORANT (2%) and League of Legends (1%) are still niche disciplines. Having said that, over the course of a year, interest in VALORANT has grown by 76%, interest in virtual football has grown by 36%, and interest in League of Legends has grown by 27%.

Audiences are overlapping more and more often. For example, 74% of bettors who bet on CS2 and Dota 2 on the GGBET UA platform also place bets on football. Similarly, 37% of football bettors bet on esports. As you can see, the line between sports and esports audiences is fuzzy, and customers aren’t afraid to try something new.

I could throw in some dry statistics here, but I’d like to give you some context. Sport is part of Ukrainians’ cultural code. In this country, it’s impossible not to love sport: there are lots of sports clubs to join, many cities have local football teams and more, and watching matches at home on television or in a stadium has long been as much a pastime as going to the cinema. 

Therefore, many customers have, as well as love for a given type of sport, a deep understanding of how it works and what makes it special. They make an effort to stay up to date with match and tournament results, and this helps when it comes to making choices when betting. 

Support from your own people also plays an important role. Every generation has not only their favorite teams but also favorite athletes who bolster their given sport and stir up interest for it with their achievements. In the past, it’s been the Klitschko brothers in boxing and footballer Andriy Shevchenko who have brought Ukraine glory on the world stage. And Oleksandr Usyk is currently among the top boxers in the world.

The last few years have seen some big names: several footballers, tennis player Elina Svitolina, fencer Olga Kharlan, judo practitioner Daria Bilodid, gymnast Oleg Verniaiev, and many more. And they’re not just a part of the national sporting history; they’re also a part of the Ukrainian media space. 

Special projects have been created with them and they serve as brand ambassadors and participants in various entertainment programs. People want to see them, and this is another argument for why betting brands should go beyond the product and work with partnerships and content.

Despite the strong position of sport in the lives of Ukrainians, esports is picking up momentum, and it’s not just keeping up with traditional sport – in some cases, it’s even outperforming it. This is clearly apparent from users’ preferences. CS2 and Dota 2 aren’t just top disciplines in terms of views and number of bets in esports. 

They’ve also entered the top 10 disciplines in terms of number of bets overall. If you take the GGBET UA platform betting analytics for 2024, CS2 is in fourth place overall, and Dota 2 is seventh. This was also aided by the achievements of Ukrainian organisations, such as NAVI. 

Like sports, esports has its own legendary Ukrainian players: Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, Danil “Dendi” Ishutin, Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi, and more. Many Ukrainian players from the 2000s-2010s who helped to popularise esports in Ukraine went on to become coaches, esports commentators, analysts, and CEOs of esports organisations; this had a big impact on the development of the esports ecosystem in Ukraine. 

What do Ukrainian customers expect from betting companies?

Let’s start with the fact that Ukrainian bettors and consumers in general are very exacting, purely due to the high standard of services in the country. Ukraine is a very digitalised country, where you can fill out government forms, buy something from your favorite brand, order something to be delivered to your house, and much more online in just a few clicks. 

You may only have to wait 1-2 days between placing an order and receiving the delivery, and delivery services in big cities can complete orders in under an hour. This speed and convenience that brands offer affect all businesses, including betting companies. 

Customers expect the same speed and convenience from betting companies. The site and apps should load quickly and run correctly on different devices, and the interface should be user-friendly, even for first-time bettors. 

The registration process shouldn’t be overcomplicated by too many steps that you need to complete, and the same goes for the betting itself. It’s also important to understand that there are brands in the betting market in Ukraine who have been operating for decades. 

They’ve built trust and customer bases that have been with them for a long time. The challenge for young betting companies is to attract the attention of these kinds of users and ideally become their lovemark brand in betting.

If we take a general cross-section of customers’ expectations, we can get an idea of the basics that are expected from any betting company worth their salt: a wide range of events and markets, competitive odds, a variety of bonuses and special offers, transparent and honest payouts, protection of personal data and secure transactions, and quick registration and verification. 

But it’s worth remembering that all customers are different and their interests are too. There are customers for whom the brand’s product capabilities are the most important thing. Other customers are also very interested in the brand’s reputation: how they communicate, what projects they work on, and how they invest in the development of sports and esports in Ukraine. 

The issue of communication has become especially critical in Ukraine during wartime. Brands who promise only victory or easy winnings, or hype up talked-about topics, risk angering customers and receiving fines from the government. 

There are customers for whom it’s important to be a part of events associated with their favorite players and teams. Therefore, they may choose a betting company based not only on the range of bonuses and options in their sportsbook, but also on the opportunities to take part in activities and events, watch exclusive content containing their favorite players and teams, and receive exclusive special offers. 

That’s why GGBET UA, like the global GG.BET brand, has not changed in this respect and develops in various directions to offer customers more than just a betting platform. We work with legendary Ukrainian clubs FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Zorya Luhansk, and leading event broadcasters MEGOGO and Setanta Sports, we support sports and esports events financially and create our own, we put together themed releases and exclusive interviews on our Ukrainian esports (GG.Кіберспорт) and sports (GG.Cпорт) YouTube channels, and much more.

The future of betting in Ukraine: how customers’ needs are changing

In the context of Ukraine, this isn’t the easiest question as the war has come with its own restrictions and risks. I remember during the COVID pandemic, when everyone in the sports and esports world was left without any matches, and betting companies had to reshape their business, focusing on virtual sports and hosting their own tournaments in line with the restrictions. 

Unfortunately, there haven’t been any huge events or tournaments hosted in Ukraine the past three years, but our teams and athletes have had the opportunity to take part in international competitions. Nevertheless, we believe that better times are coming and that big tournaments will return. This will broaden the range of events and also give a boost to the creation of major online projects for betting companies and their partners.

One thing that’s already evident is that Ukrainian bettors grew beyond the level of amateur betting long ago, and simple predictions on who will win or total scores will no longer satisfy their needs. Interest in complex betting formats, including custom market selections which allow customers to independently put together their own event combinations, will continue to grow. 

The overlap of esports and sports audiences will also increase as new formats emerge. For example, Ukrainian streamers can receive permission from esports broadcasters to stream matches that Ukrainian teams are taking part in. As these are not esports streamers and they’re being watched by a varied audience, this is a great way for the industry to become more popular and attract a new audience.

The popularity of esports betting will only grow. CS2 and Dota 2 will continue to lead, but mobile esports is gaining more and more popularity. Games like Mobile Legends, PUBG Mobile and Free Fire have already built up a huge following worldwide, and this is quite an up-and-coming area for the Ukrainian market.

Artificial intelligence, which is already actively used in the production of games and for the content component of tournaments and promo campaigns, is also impacting personalisation. It allows betting companies to more effectively analyse customers’ behavior, predict their interests, and offer the most suitable events and bonuses. This boosts engagement and increases customer retention.

The leader of Ukraine’s betting market will be the company who can create not just a betting platform but a full-blown ecosystem which brings fans together with their favorite teams through exclusive content and events, streaming, special offers, activities, and more.

Source