As social media breaks down the barriers between fans and sports stars, football betting is also undergoing a profound transformation: the focus of betting is shifting from team wins and losses to individual player performances. Giovanni Bertoli, CEO of WSF Odds, points out that the influence of star players is reshaping the entire betting ecosystem, and this trend is just beginning.
Stars Drive Betting Enthusiasm
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has 65 million followers on Instagram, about 18 million more than the official account of the Premier League champions. This influence is not uncommon in today's football world: despite the deep-rooted slogan "club above all," many superstar players' personal brands are already on par with, if not superior to, the appeal of the clubs.
Social platforms allow fans to get closer to the daily lives of stars, also making them more inclined to bet around individual players. Traditionally, this type of betting is common in individual sports such as golf, tennis, and boxing. In team sports, player-specific bets (Player Props) are also rapidly emerging.
Generation Z Drives Personalized Betting
According to research by YouGov and Deloitte, the new generation of sports fans is particularly focused on players rather than teams. For example, many NBA fans say their primary reason for watching a game is the performance of a specific player, not the record of a team.
This trend is also spreading to football. In the North American market, major leagues such as the NFL, NBA, and NHL have widely introduced player prop bets. Now, as the global betting landscape evolves, football is becoming the next "individual-driven" betting hotspot.
Technology Empowerment: AI Dissects Every Action
Based in Rome, WSF Odds sees the business opportunities brought by this change. As a company focused on live betting AI technology, WSF Odds is pushing the betting focus from game outcomes to individual performances. Their vision is: "To make every quantifiable action in a game a betting market."
CEO Bertoli states that their system can calculate the probabilities and odds of various data including passes, interceptions, and shots in real time, greatly enhancing the interactivity of watching games.
Considering the relatively low frequency of goals in football (an average of 2.93 goals per game in the 2023-24 Premier League), betting solely around goals could make the user experience somewhat monotonous. However, through player prop bets, every minute of the game becomes "bettable and experiential," enhancing the immersive experience.
Flexible Betting Mechanisms and Product Localization
WSF Odds not only provides pre-match betting services, but its core products still focus on the player prop market updated in real-time during the game. For example, they recently introduced an "automatic transfer" feature: when a betted player is substituted, the system can automatically transfer the bet to a substitute player, ensuring uninterrupted betting.
The odds algorithm used by WSF Odds is jointly developed by its parent company Wall Street Football and the trading service provider Tradinglab. Real-time data is supported by Stats Perform and its subsidiary Opta. This enables WSF's system to cover a large number of football events in dozens of countries, achieving "second-level response."
Expanding Beyond Football
Bertoli states that the company is currently considering extending its AI algorithms to other sports, such as tennis and basketball, provided that high-quality real-time data can be obtained. At the same time, they are also pushing for the "localization" of products: customizing content for regional markets with specific betting habits.
User Experience is the Future Key
Although the technology is highly mature, Bertoli believes that the real challenge lies in the user experience. He points out that most sports betting platforms are far from other entertainment applications in design, "If you want to find a specific prop bet, users often need to scroll through a long list."
He emphasizes that the future core is an AI-based intelligent interface, which allows betting content to more accurately match user preferences, thus providing a smooth, personalized betting experience.
Strategic Focus on Quality Partnerships
Currently, WSF Odds has achieved significant results in profitability and stability. Moving forward, the company will focus on establishing strategic partnerships with leading operators worldwide.
"We are not seeking rapid expansion, but prefer to cooperate with influential market leaders," Bertoli says.
