Canadian online sportsbook Rivalry has undertaken a significant enhancement of its crypto activity as a part of a wider upgrade of its business model and operations.
The Toronto-headquartered company unveiled the upgrade in its recent Q3 earnings call, asserting that it had initiated a ‘historic overhaul’ in pursuit of a ‘crypto-first’ strategy.
Rivalry Token, the company’s native crypto token, was launched back in May, detailing plans for a wider launch of the asset across its business in H2 2024. These plans have now come to fruition, it seems.
So far, the Rivalry Token, spent on site as ‘NUTZ’, has been utilised chiefly as an engagement tool for Rivalry. The sportsbook has taken an unorthodox approach to customer engagement and marketing throughout its history, aiming to connect mainly with Gen Z and millennial audiences.
This ‘crypto-native strategy’ has been paying off, the firm says, with retention rates 30% above the average among crypto holders. In its Q3 earnings call the company detailed that customers connected with its crypto-wallet generated 200% more revenue than its baseline customers, attributing an additional CA$300,000 in revenue from crypto activity.
“From the start of the third quarter through to the release of these results, we have undergone the most substantive evolution of our business since founding,” said Steven Salz, Co-Founder and CEO of Rivalry.
“This work was done to better attune ourselves to an evolving online gambling market where cryptocurrency has become the global payment method of choice, and to align our offering with the experiential expectations of the players driving this industry-wide shift.
“These initiatives were set in motion during the second quarter alongside the announcement of Rivalry Token, and I’m proud to say we are emerging out the other side of this undertaking as a fundamentally leaner company, and better positioned for growth.”
From engagement to payment
Crypto betting is a high-value and high-volume business, but is also something of a regulatory grey area in many jurisdictions. This is largely due to many countries’ regulatory frameworks on gambling pre-dating the more widespread adoption of crypto seen in the late 2010s and so far in the 2020s.
According to some stakeholders, like sports betting solutions provider SOFTSWISS, crypto remains a popular method for betting. A recent report published by the company found that the crypto bet sum rose 15.2% in the first nine months of 2024 – this trend has been noted by Rivalry’s Salz, as seen in his comments on the Q3 earnings.
Rivalry’s focus so far, as stated above, has been on engagement rather than payments, falling in line with regulatory parameters. Post-Q3 though, the firm has made preparations for crypto payments to become a central part of its business.
The company has been undertaking efforts to integrate crypto payments, such as by introducing a crypto-first cashier for faster and more flexible deposit and withdrawal options. The firm believes this will position it to gain more share in the crypto market by allowing crypto depositing and wagering with digital currencies.
“Our native token continues to create a strong level of alignment with players and act as a cornerstone of our crypto-first and HVP strategy,” Salz added.
“In six months, the pre-release of NUTZ, previously known as Rivalry Token, has demonstrated its ability to grow our crypto market share, attract higher-value players, enhance retention, and create long-term engagement loops across our offerings.
“NUTZ are now deeply connected with our newly released VIP programme, together they offer a highly customer-centric experience that will continue establishing lasting player loyalty, increased wallet share, consistent betting activity, and generate higher average player revenue profiles.”
Click HERE to read Payment Expert’s interview with Steven Salz, Rivalry CEO, about crypto’s role in betting in the latest edition of the SBC Leaders magazine.
