BetMakers - next generation online betting platform
Creation of a next generation multi-tenant Horse Racing betting system hosted by one of the biggest players in the betting industry.
BetMakers – A world betting leader
BetMakers is a world leader in the betting industry in the United States. Their main strategy is to invest in the continuous evolution of the offered services, including their digital betting platform. BetMakers follows a vision to be a key player in the betting industry. Digital services and providing a unique user experience are the keys to success. The company provides technology and service solutions for gaming companies, sports teams, charitable foundations, and lotteries.
Online betting platform challenges
The main challenge of this project was creation of the next generation of their betting system. CrustLab created a new version of the web and mobile applications, changing the system’s backend architecture and technology stack. The previous version of the betting platform did not achieve satisfactory performance and barely attracted new users due to the huge technological debt and obsolete design of its UX and UI. The online betting app needed a refresh to change this. Unfortunately, due to the debt, adding new functionalities seemed to be time-consuming and very expensive. The best solution was to take a step back, rewrite the application code, and run a refreshed version of the online betting platform that was richer in a number of new functionalities as well as flexible enough to add new features in a quick and cheap way. The new design was intended not only to improve the user experience and performance of the applications, but also to position the company as a technological leader in the world of horse racing betting.
After about a year of cooperation and completion of the first part of our contract, many new challenges arose. Both their iOS and Android apps had to be rewritten to adjust to the latest UI/UX patterns and the new backend API. CrustLab advised Betmakers to create native solutions for both platforms.
How we built an online betting platform
BetMakers asked CrustLab to create the next generation of their offered Web UI. After checking the system we decided to rewrite the backend part of it and apply newer, performant solutions. We redesigned the database architecture and redefined the user experience as well. We also added new functionalities including new payment methods, new bet types, improvements to the embedded wallet, an extensive reporting system (analytical tools for Betmakers and stats of wins and losses for end customers), plus notifications to protect users against gambling addiction in accordance with the responsible gambling initiative. Later, we also created a new version of the offered mobile application, reusing the backend we created.
The features implemented as a part of the new and improved version of the platform, with the Web interface as the primary change visible to end-users, have been completely transferred to native Android and iOS mobile applications. The new backend ensures their better performance. One of the key points in the scope of work was the extension of these mobile apps with the feature of direct connection with standalone terminals guaranteed thanks to QR code scanners. By having the mobile, app users can log in to the terminal on a horse racing track and manage their account and wallet, as well as place bets.
We created a dedicated admin panel that allows BetMakers’ customers to apply any modifications to the login screen of the app, making their brands unique despite the fact that all the clients use exactly the same application connected to the created SaaS platform.
Custom advertising banners displayed at various places in the app offered a new monetization channel with everything managed from one, common administration panel.
Results
We created a flexible betting platform. BetMakers is now able to freely develop and tune functionalities, layout, and features based on the specific demands of their clients. Despite the fact that the application was created with the US market in mind, it is also adapted to other locations, e.g. Scandinavia.
The changes had a huge impact on the application’s performance. The most important results worth noting are: 0 faults in production during the Triple Crown racing series, mean session time increased from 16 to 24 minutes, the number of weekly sessions per user increased by 241% since the system was first deployed, and the mean time needed to place a bet on mobiles reduced by 40%.
The newly created mobile applications were very warmly received by the available reviewers. A simplified betting experience, custom odds preview, plus a configurable preview of active runners and available bet types made the app unique and user friendly.
With a redesigned system CMS, BetMakers and its customers are able to toggle features and customize the product in a pleasant and intuitive way on both web and mobile platforms. The previous, offensive approach of configuration checking has been replaced with a performant mechanism that makes it possible to apply changes to the user interface in milliseconds instead of minutes or hours.
Both BetMakers employees and users of their betting platform confirm that the new application design is clear and more pleasant to use than the previous one.
Trusted by leading brands
There is no better recommendation than the opinion of a satisfied customer. See what founders and managers say about cooperation with CrustLab.
CrustLab consistently adds value to our organization in many ways. We’ve received very positively feedback on the system CrustLab has delivered. Our customers regard it as an excellent product. Our experience working with them has far exceeded those of other vendors.
I was looking for a design team that had experience in sports betting. CrustLab helped me complete a full UX design project for my product. It was a very collaborative process, which is what I wanted. When I’m ready to do my next project, they’re going to be my first phone call.
The best part of working with CrustLabs was their attention to detail in every development process step. They were great about taking the initiative to suggest new enhancements and features that our product owners hadn’t thought of and sharing with us the best practices.
The team provided professional services that added value to the core functions of the business. They were fast and felt like our internal IT department, working during the night when we were deploying important features. That was fantastic, and I’m happy they’ve worked with me.
CrustLab’s implementation of our solutions has almost doubled our revenues. All aspects of cooperation were very good. I felt that we were treated as very important clients because we received a very high standard of service. The team delivered the results at the time and budget.
We finished an MVP in 3 weeks. It was very valuable that CrustLab was able to evaluate the feasibility of our solution and estimated the effort and cost that was required to request the funding. CrustLab can be a business partner in addition to an excellent software development agency.
CrustLab successfully delivered a product that was able to maintain its performance despite some sudden surges in the site’s traffic. Thanks to their experience and ability to predict problems, we found solutions and built the project on time.
We take advantage of CrustLab’s experience in the field of payments, new functionalities, and user-friendly design. The development process itself ran smoothly and according to plan. It was important for us to complete the project on time, so I cannot imagine a better partner for this project.
This team is hungry, sharp, “on it” and very customer-focused. I had no idea that I could find such great help from the other side of the world – especially a firm that could understand our product requirements even though I’m not a tech product manager.
We hired CrustLab to introduce several modifications to improve one of the Pocco Finance apps and integrate it with the new version of the SDK. The project was completed on time and in line with the planned budget. I strongly recommend CrustLab as a software partner.
Our cooperation with CrustLab concerned body leasing. They offered us highly skilled and experienced Android developers. I am fully satisfied with the ease of contact, the speed of completing the formalities, but most of all of the man they recommended to us.
We are really satisfied with the cooperation with CrustLab. Very good technical skillset, good communication, and work done on time! After creating a customizable widget, we entrusted them with redefine of another application, and the results are splendid.
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