The Summer Olympics Games, which start today in Rio de Jineiro and run through August 21, are a great opportunity for sports betting affiliates to pick up a few new players during the traditional summer slump.
This effort won’t necessarily be easy as sports betting isn’t necessarily synonymous with Olympic competition, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of it. Here are a few tips for maximizing the next couple weeks of international competition.
Maintain Realistic Expectations
Before you head out in the world with an armful of Olympic content and dreams of mass conversions, you might want to lower your aim just a bit. While Olympic sports betting can drum up a few new players, there’s only a limited number of punters who are willing to wager on this kind of event.
In a recent interview with ESPN.com, a Nevada sports book operator said he expected Olympic action to reach, maybe, the same level as an NBA playoff game. So don’t expect to be doing land rush business.
Know Your Audience
The Olympic Games are, at their core, an exercise in nationalism. Most Olympic viewers, and Olympics bettors, will be rooting for the athletes from their home countries and ignoring the rest of the field.
Sports betting affiliates who know their own audiences will be well set when it comes time to identify that obscure pole vaulter or water polo team their readers might actually be following. If you can play to that sense of national pride, your chances of converting will be greatly improved.
Be Careful with Intellectual Property
If you think that Olympic imagery and logos are part of the public domain, you’re in for a very rude surprise. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is incredibly aggressive when it comes to protecting their intellectual property and no blog is too small to escape their view.
Sports betting affiliates would be wise to avoid any images, including the famed Olympic Rings logo, that they don’t have express permission from the IOC to use.