What Makes a Sportsbook Competitive Today? Interview with Mateusz Białas

In this interview, we speak with Mateusz Białas, Sportsbook Risk Manager at Gamingtec, about what it takes to run a sportsbook once it’s live.

Mateusz shares how early product decisions influence stability, margins, localisation, and day-to-day operations as activity grows. He also explains how teams prepare for major sporting events and why managing a sportsbook across multiple markets often proves more complex than expected.

“Building a strong sportsbook, and then attracting and retaining customers, is a process. You need patience, flexibility, and constant attention.”

— Mateusz Białas, Sportsbook Risk Manager at Gamingtec

With that in mind, we asked Mateusz a series of questions about sportsbook products, operations, and long-term performance: 

1. From your perspective, what makes a Sportsbook product competitive today, and how does Gamingtec approach that?

Mateusz: Today’s sportsbooks’ core offer is very similar. Everyone is offering the NBA, the Premier League, and the Champions League. We approach things pragmatically and recognise that customers do have a choice, so we need to make our solution as stable and user-friendly as possible. You need to give customers a reliable experience, or they will quickly turn elsewhere, as the competition is fierce.

2. Which tools or features in our Sportsbook do you see operators using the most?

Mateusz: Bet builders are very popular, as are single odds boosts, which are a critical tool for retention and marketing. Customers can be attracted and encouraged to open an account if we offer something eye-catching, like 100/1 on Ronaldo to touch the ball, rather than a small shift such as 2.00 instead of 1.95 on Portugal to win a match. The headline offers are what attract users.

3. Bet Builders and odds boosts are now a standard part of most Sportsbooks. What makes our version useful for operators?

Mateusz: It’s all about flexibility. We can give operators the chance to offer what they want — as I explained before, something like 100/1 on Ronaldo to touch the ball, or even markets such as “Will the sun rise tomorrow?”. Operators increasingly want bespoke offerings to differentiate themselves from competitors, and we can support that.

4. How do we handle localisation for operators working in different regions?

Mateusz: We support everything you would expect from a multi-jurisdictional operation. We can run bespoke banners across different sites, timed so that when football ends, basketball banners appear on a LatAm site, or volleyball content appears in Poland.

All translations are handled on our side. For example, even if an operator has both Brazilian and Portuguese sites, we recognise that the language and localisation requirements are different, and we support that. If operators manage multiple brands within the same market, we can also support different translations for each brand.

5. Margin control is a big topic for operators. How flexible is our system when it comes to adjusting odds per league or market?

Mateusz: There is complete flexibility. Operators want bespoke control, and we can tailor margin settings not just at league or market level, but down to individual outcomes. This can all be adapted to the specific market an operator is targeting, without affecting other brands or operators on the platform.

6. What improvements or updates have recently been added to the Sportsbook that you think make a real difference?

Mateusz: Clients will certainly appreciate the early payout market, which until recently was a novelty offered only by the boldest operators, but will likely become standard across most sports in the coming years. Customers place bets to win, and we make that easier by settling football bets in top leagues and tournaments once the backed team takes a two-goal lead. This saves many bets every matchday, and clients notice and value it.

We are also continuing to expand the bet builder. This gives customers greater freedom and flexibility when creating bets, and I believe that once it reaches full maturity, the bet builder will represent the future of sports betting.

7. From a workflow point of view, how does the team prepare the platform for major sporting events or traffic spikes?

Mateusz: It’s important to position the offer correctly. During major tournaments such as the EUROs, World Cup, Olympic Games, or even busy matchdays across top leagues and cups, customer attention is focused on those events.

To make things easier, we place the most important matches in easily accessible areas of the site, so customers can reach the markets they want with minimal effort and time spent on the website or app. As a result, players are more satisfied, and we benefit from smoother traffic flow.

8. What challenges do operators usually face when they manage several regions at once, and how does our Sportsbook help them with that?

Mateusz: Despite globalisation and the sense that the world is increasingly connected, betting markets are still driven by strong local habits and preferences. While customers everywhere follow major football competitions, the NBA, or tennis Grand Slams, each market also has its own niche sports and expectations.

For example, Polish players value volleyball or ski jumping, while promoting ski jumping in Turkey or Mexico would miss the mark entirely. With the tools available in our sportsbook, we can tailor offerings precisely for each region. This helps customers feel that their interests are understood and prioritised, as they are shown the events that matter to them at competitive odds.

9. What’s something people often overlook about building or maintaining a Sportsbook?

Mateusz: Many people don’t realise that building a strong sportsbook — and then attracting and retaining customers — is a long process. Unlike opening a global fast-food franchise, where queues form on day one, a sportsbook requires time, patience, and ongoing effort.

You’re entering a competitive market, dealing with customers who already have expectations, and working within complex regulatory frameworks. To succeed, patience and determination are essential. You can never become complacent, because customers are demanding and competitors are always active.

10. What part of working on our Sportsbook product do you find the most interesting or rewarding?

Mateusz: As a sports analyst, I used to enjoy creating odds and watching how customer stakes came in. Today, most odds are generated automatically, and our role is more about controlling them than creating them. That shift will only continue.

What I find most rewarding is seeing how quickly the industry evolves. When I started, features like early payout or bet builders didn’t exist, and now they are essential. Watching that evolution from inside a tech company, and tracking how the platform performs day to day, never gets boring.