Lion Gaming is excited to welcome Jason Poprawa to the team as Head of Sportsbook. Jason brings more than a decade of experience in the world of sports betting as a bettor, trader, marketer, and sportsbook manager. Read on to get Jason’s insights into the sports betting landscape and the vision he has for the future of our sportsbook technology.

What first drew you into the iGaming industry?

I’ve always loved a wide range of sports and mathematics, so I was naturally drawn to the world of sports betting. As soon as I turned the legal age, I began researching and developing ways to predict what would happen in any given match. As I got older, I decided to turn that passion into a career, which I enjoy every day.

What would you say the most important thing is for new sportsbook operators to consider before starting their operation?

I think there are two very important factors for new sportsbook operators to consider: how you can connect with players to get them into your book, and how you can set yourself apart from the competition. One of the reasons I joined the Lion Gaming team is because we aren’t building cookie-cutter sportsbooks. We are creating innovative solutions that set our partner operators apart from others, making it easier for them to bring in and keep players.

In the past few years the sports betting industry have seen trends like same-game parlays, live-betting, and early cash outs explode. What do you think the next “big thing” will be for sportsbooks to offer their players?

Personally, I am a huge fan of micro betting. As consumers crave more dynamic content with the rise of TikTok, micro betting delivers rapid betting markets such as the result of the next pitch in baseball or the next minute in soccer. This keeps bettors engaged on every single play of a match, adding excitement and enhancing the user experience.

How do you see VR and metaverse applications impacting the sports betting industry?

What would be better than being able to put on a VR headset, watch your team play from incredible angles, and also be able to place a bet on the action? VR and metaverse are adding a new dimension to the world, and bettors will enjoy being able to walk into a virtual betting shop to place their wagers.

What can sportsbooks do to differentiate themselves in the marketplace?

Enticing betting products, ease-of-use, great player support, and trust are my keys to differentiation. As the Head of Sportsbook, I’m extremely thrilled to be able to develop betting products that other books don’t have, helping our partners really “wow” their players. Plus, we build mobile-first and intuitive sports betting solutions that make it faster and easier for players to get their bets in…the most important thing for any bettor.

Where do you think the next hottest sports betting market is?

The African market is very interesting to me, especially in the world of cryptocurrency betting. The combination of enhanced internet coverage, ubiquity of smartphones, and a passion for soccer (amongst other sports) is the perfect combination for an emerging market. Couple those with a population of over 1.2 billion people and you have a betting market that will double to $5.6 billion by 2030.

Worst bad beat you’ve had in your betting career?

Nothing can be worse than when I had a bet on fellow Canadian tennis player Peter Polansky to win a set of tennis against a player that was so injured, he was serving underhand. I was watching the match and assumed I had made the best bet in the world at 2.2 odds for a player that should easily win. But, he just couldn’t get the returns right and he ended up losing 7-6 in a tiebreak. That was a rough one.

Anything else you’d like to share about the future of Lion Gaming’s sportsbook?

As somebody that’s been in the world of sports betting for over 10 years as a bettor, trader, marketer, and sportsbook manager, I can honestly say I’m amazed at what Lion Gaming is doing. From on-chain crypto sports betting to seeking out world-class partners in innovative betting technology, I have all the tools to build a dream sportsbook for our partners, operators, and players!