Depth or Breadth: Choosing Sports Coverage for a New Book

One of the first decisions a new sportsbook has to make is what to cover. Should you go for every sport under the sun or should you focus on a few that your audience actually care about? That’s a decision that has huge implications for your brand and it’s one that you need to think about properly rather than just go “every sport”.

Whatever the answer, a flexible online sportsbook software provider should let coverage be a strategic choice rather than a limit the platform imposes. Soft2Bet, a leading iGaming turnkey solutions provider delivering high-quality products and services for online gambling operators, builds its platform so an operator can shape its coverage around its audience, not around what the technology happens to allow.

The Coverage Decision Shapes the Brand

What your sportsbook covers tells you a lot about your target market. If you’re going to cover a few key sports, then you’re speaking directly to the fans of those sports. If you try to cover it all you may end up with a wider audience but risk being very generic. Coverage isn’t just about making a list; it’s a big part of your brand.

That’s why this is a decision that needs to be made properly rather than just a decision to tick everything off. The best coverage is going to be the one that suits your target market and allows you to actually stand out, not the one that simply has the most. A well-targeted sportsbook that knows its market can do far better than one that is trying to appeal to everyone and, as a result, ends up appealing to no one. You can give your bettors a genuine reason to pick you when you know who you’re selling to and that’s something a long list of offerings won’t achieve.

Weighing Depth Against Breadth

Deciding between depth and breadth involves some real trade-offs as an operator.

The decision turns on:

• which sports the target audience actually follows
• how deeply bettors want each sport covered
• where the brand can realistically stand out
• how much breadth dilutes focus
• what coverage the operation can support well

Depth Builds Loyalty

Bettors who are into a sport want to see it properly covered with a good range of markets and detail to show that the bookie takes it seriously. If you’re providing real depth in the sports that your audience follow then you’re going to get their loyalty because you’re treating them as actual fans rather than just another customer.

On the flip side, if you’re covering too many sports without any real depth, you’re going to end up with your core bettors dissatisfied in the areas that they’re most interested in. Having a broad range without any real depth is a poor basis to build on. For a lot of new sportsbooks, the sensible approach is to go for depth in the areas that matter rather than just trying to cover everything.

Room to Grow Coverage Over Time

Your coverage decision is by no means final. A smart new sportsbook begins by providing depth in the sports that its audience wants to see, then adds more sports and markets as the business and the audience grows. Your initial coverage is just the starting point, not the end point.

This is why your platform is important. If it’s easy to add new sports and markets, then you can go in with a very focused launch and simply expand from there without having to do a massive rework. Your coverage can grow with your audience rather than being static from day one.

Conclusion

For a new sportsbook working out what to cover the sensible answer is to go for depth rather than breadth. Serve the sports that your audience actually follows and then expand your coverage as your business grows. If you base your coverage on your audience and you have a platform that allows you to grow, that becomes your identity rather than just being another bookie trying to cover everything.