Tally: A Data-Driven Approach to Sports Betting

The free-to-play gaming market is jam-packed with businesses, but Tally distinguishes itself by concentrating on data, likely due to its leaders’ experience outside the gambling sector. After a $4 million investment round spearheaded by Acies Investments, Daniel O’Boyle chatted with CEO Brad Vettesse and COO Rupert Huelsey about the company.

Nevertheless, Hurshi and Chief Executive Officer Brad Wietse entered the field with a distinct revenue source in mind. Of course, Tally still provides products that can attract fans, but the information gathered provides a more defined end objective.

“When we took control of the project, it was a very entertainment-focused project,” said Hurshi. “It was all about amusement, but there was no clear conclusion. So it was just for amusement purposes.

“For us, with our experience, it was evident that there was more to it, and information was one of the clear facets.”

Coincidentally, this early version of the enterprise was co-founded by National Football League star Russell Wilson, although Wietse pointed out that Wilson’s daily work obligations limited his capacity to be actively involved in daily operations.

The data-focused viewpoint that Wietse and Hurshi brought might be explained by their coming from outside the gaming area, working in the marketing field, although they often worked with businesses that had some connection to the athletic world.

“We were attracted to this space because our colleagues said ‘you two have both spent a significant amount of time in mobile marketing and sports,’ and mobile marketing and sports gambling, the combination of the two is sports gambling,” said Wietse.

This novel method enables us to comprehend these systems and how they utilize fundamental consumer tactics, akin to our approach for Snickers, Mars, and beer, to entice individuals towards sports wagering.

For Hursley, the type of information that a product like Tally can access has always been the aspiration for marketers. Thus, if this information can be gathered, why not establish a venture around it?

“In my prior endeavors, we sold stadium naming privileges,” he remarked. “Individuals paid a substantial sum for these rights, but it was challenging to obtain the names of individuals who were enthusiastic about the sport. You could place your name on the stadium or the jersey, but it was difficult to acquire the names, emails, or phone numbers of individuals who were genuinely interested in the sport.

“I believe that when we encountered Tally, we perceived a significant opportunity. It’s an exceptional means for brands involved in sports to connect with supporters on a more profound level.”

Tally’s distinctive position signifies that they possess a varied spectrum of clientele. Some operate within the betting sector, while others are engaged in distinct fields.

“We have a client who has utilized our platform,” Vettesse stated. “They possess sports rights. They employ our platform, in this instance a prediction game, and when fans participate and play the game, we can capture that information and present them with deals. It just happened to be a beer company offering a 30% reduction on their initial delivery.”

We can achieve a 15% recovery rate. So, when you consider how it operates, it’s a chance to link those who are associated with athletics and those brands that are connected to athletics, and create income from it, rather than just displaying a sign on the sidelines.

Tally offers an additional feature in the wagering area, as a method for players to get started with products similar to sports wagering. By making players comfortable with the terminology of wagering and how it functions, free games can generate interest after new markets open.

How did Hursley and Vitas know this? Well, Tally gathered data on this.

“We have a survey question on our platform where we ask people in the United States how likely they are to wager on sports once sports wagering is legal in their state,” he said. “Then we ask, ‘How familiar are you with the language of sports wagering?’ We discovered that there was almost a one-to-one relationship.

“Those who are comfortable with the language desire to be sports bettors, but those who are not comfortable, you’ll find they don’t. So I believe our role is to expand the entire market, get more people familiar with sports wagering, so they can easily transition into becoming sports wagering participants.”

Tally has accumulated a large amount of data. Now, we’ll see what it can do with that data.

“We have a pretty good amount of game data from 350,000 players,” Hursley said.

We truly connect with sports enthusiasts and can present their information in an engaging way.

“We view sports betting as merely one aspect of a larger landscape. We’ve already completed the challenging tasks and possess a wealth of data, providing us with a significant advantage in the sports betting arena.”

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