Esports Insider keeps tabs on all partnerships throughout the esports industry, and one of the more memorable collaborations when it comes to betting and esports is undoubtedly that between Ninjas in Pyjamas and Betway. During our recent ESI London conference we were able to get both parties in to discuss the ins and outs of this very partnership.
Plenty was mentioned, from how NiP helped Betway transition from a non-endemic bookmaker to one of the most prominent providers in the industry, to how they established their relationship in the first place.
Here’s some of what transpired during the ‘Partner up – Ninjas in Pyjamas and Betway‘ session.
Speakers
Adam Savinson, Head of Esports at Betway Group – Win Technologies
Hicham Chahine, CEO of Ninjas of Pyjamas
Savinson kicked things off by explaining the position Betway was in prior to its entry in esports. The bookmaker was popular in traditional sports – having been around since 2006 – but it was an unknown quantity in esports. It identified that the industry was promising and growing, and thought a partnership with an endemic organisation was the greatest way to enter.
At the time, Ninjas in Pyjamas had a skin betting partner. Skin betting is an unregulated and unlegislated faction of gambling that mainly catered to an underage audience, which wasn’t an ideal look for the organisation. They cut ties and wanted to do things properly moving forward, even deciding that they didn’t want a betting partner. This changed once they saw the potential of a mutually-beneficial partnership with Betway.
Betway didn’t see NiP as a platform to advertise its service as much as it was an endemic pathway into the industry. Both parties prioritise content as they believe it helps to build both of their brands in an entertaining, engaging way. Responsible marketing is the first thing Betway thinks about when it comes to partnerships.
“The best thing about our partnership is that Hicham and I can disagree” – Adam Savinson
Here were Betway’s main objectives when it came to the launch of the partnership:
- Get players to buy into the vision
- Enforce that Betway can be trusted
- Make the audience understand that Betway understands esports
The duo showed clips that their companies had produced together, detailing the fantastic reception they had received to many of the original pieces created. This included a video with West Ham United, another of Betway’s partners.
Ultimately, neither NiP nor Betway wanted to take advantage of each other – they knew a long term, mutually-beneficial partnership would be the best way forward and have proven as such with their numerous well thought out and delivered pieces of content.
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You can watch content from our flagship ESI London conference over on our Esports Insider YouTube channel
