There are a multitude of challenges in operating a smaller online sportsbook ranging from effective strategies to acquire customers without spending a fortune to ensuring that the product differentiates itself enough from the competition to stand out in a crowded field. One of the most critical challenges for any operator in the regulated sports betting space is ongoing compliance obligations that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Notably, these responsibilities begin with the acquisition of a license but exist as long as the company continues to do business in a given state. For large operators with the resources to employ bigger compliance teams and tap outside resources such as law firms these requirements are easier to manage; however, smaller operators and any company starting up in the space run the risk of being overwhelmed and falling into non-compliance. 

Licensing and regulatory requirements apply uniformly to companies that hold the same license type regardless of whether one company is exponentially larger than the other. The regulator’s concern is protecting the public and making sure that the product being offered is honest and fair.  In practical terms this means that smaller companies have to do more with less.  Rather than simply hiring more employees, the future of compliance will lie with automating many of these tasks and forward-looking companies can capitalize on regulatory technology as a competitive advantage over their peers.  

Too often internal compliance teams are reacting to regulatory action rather than proactively implementing tools to make their lives easier.  Implementing a piece of regulatory technology like Compliable can provide smaller operators with a tool that automates nearly all of the licensing obligations.  Further, investing in the platform for existing licensing needs also lays the groundwork for a seamless move into new jurisdictions due to the similarity between many of the core areas of regulatory inquiry. Companies that are still handling these obligations manually spend countless hours retreading the same information when they could be spending that time on more difficult problems.

The future of compliance, like the future of gaming, is through technology.  With razor thin margins, gaming operators must think creatively about anything they can do to gain an advantage; compliance is that advantage.