888sport has capitalized on the unprecedented success of Pokémon Go and launched a betting game to “catch” soccer bets around stadiums in the U.K.
The game is known as Free Bet Hunt, and it lives up to its name by letting gamblers hunt for free sports bets. It combines certain features of geo-technology and augmented reality (AR) inspired by Pokémon Go for finding free bets. The use of AR in sports is not a new concept. But this game sets itself apart as being the only one in the market to let bettors and fans track down bets in an interactive way.
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The British bookmaker received a positive response for Free Bet Hunt since its launch last month and is planning to apply the idea to other leagues and maybe other sports, according to Legal Sports Report.
“We saw the hype and success of Pokémon Go and thought that the basis – the idea of searching for things while out and about was really relevant to sports betting,” global marketing director Sivan Finn Shalev told Legal Sports Report. “We know our players love the latest technology trends and we are constantly striving to enhance their experience on our sites so this seemed like a great direction.”
Bets can be hunted via apps near English Premier League stadiums on the day of a league match. In addition to these, bets can also be placed near the stadiums of four English Premiership teams — Birmingham City, Brentford, Preston North End and Nottingham Forest — as 888sport is the sponsor for these teams.
Interestingly, these betting stops are located outside the stadiums so a ticket to the match is not at all required.
A map through the app displays the locations of the free bet stops. The bet can then be caught through a smartphone’s camera. Each player is allowed one free bet on one free bet stop. A player can win from five to ten pounds through every free bet. In total, one player is allowed to catch five bets up to 35 pounds.
The game is available on 888sport’s app and mobile website on Saturdays for specific hours as of now. Only residents of the UK and bettors who have at least used 888sport once before can play the game.
Itai Pazner, senior vice-president at 888 holdings, had said in an earlier statement that the game was launched to provide soccer fans an innovative way to make predictions and keeping the pre-match build-up excitement intact.
He further said: “The great thing about this game is that fans don’t necessarily have to be going to the match in order to take part. The initiative is another major step in providing football fans with a fully immersive betting experience and ensuring that no matter the location or time in the day, fans have the opportunity to make their bets around a match day.”
It would be interesting to wait and see if Free Bet Hunt will continue to be popular with bettors as it is the first of its kind game to use AR to engage soccer fans.