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10 Dec 2018Working Paper Summaries

Platform Competition: Betfair and the U.K. Market for Sports Betting

by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Neil Campbell

Since the early 2000s, online betting exchanges have had a new relationship with customers relative to traditional bookmakers, providing a platform to match individuals willing to lay and back the same outcome. This study shows how exchanges’ platform design choices have major implications for their likelihood of success.

Author Abstract

We examine two episodes of strategic interaction in the UK betting industry: (i) Betfair (an entrant multisided platform or MSP) vs. Flutter (also an MSP), and (ii) Betfair vs. traditional bookmakers. We find that although Betfair was an underfunded second mover in the betting exchange space, it was able to attract punters at a much faster rate than the better-funded first mover, Flutter. Moreover, while Betfair and traditional bookmakers competed aggressively for market share, they also developed a highly complementary relationship that favored all parties. We discuss implications for research in the economics and management of MSPs. Specifically, we argue that the literature would benefit from work that endogenizes platform design and that considers the possible competitive and cooperative interactions between the business models of traditional incumbents and those of potential innovative MSP entrants.

Paper Information

Full Working Paper Text
Working Paper Publication Date: November 2018
HBS Working Paper Number: HBS Working Paper #19-057
Faculty Unit(s): Strategy

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Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Herman C. Krannert Professor of Business Administration

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