After its acquisition by Entain in 2023, Angstrom became a company often mentioned but seldom heard from within the industry. Frequently referenced during earnings calls by Entain, BetMGM, and MGM Resorts, public knowledge about Angstrom was limited, mainly recognizing it as a significant part of Entain's Sportsbook Gaming Platform (SGP). Recently, that silence was broken when Angstrom's initiative to develop a free-to-play game called Seven was highlighted in a press release from Entain, marking a shift in their visibility and hinting at upcoming developments in betting products.
Ross Jarvis, Angstrom’s director of strategy, noted, "If you had told me – or anyone on the leadership team – a couple of years ago that building a customer-facing, free-to-play (F2P), mass-market app and creating a brand as well as a product would be on Angstrom’s roadmap, I don’t think many people would have placed that bet."
Angstrom’s acquisition was driven primarily by its expertise in US pricing and modeling, and the launch of the Seven game underscores the potential for specialist B2B companies to act as internal development shops. This concept entails autonomous teams leveraging their technology and industry knowledge to create products beyond their traditional focus.
Leo Gaspar, founder of Adria Nexus Consulting and former co-founder of Huddle, remarked that the lines between providing technology and designing consumer solutions are increasingly blurred. He stated, "The strongest specialist companies increasingly understand not only the technology they provide, but the consumer problem that technology can solve. Once that happens, it is quite natural for them to move further into product development."
Major operators already have extensive technology and product teams. However, these teams are often bogged down with platform maintenance, regulatory compliance, and other operational tasks. Marc Thomas, managing director at Algosport, described some operator platforms as "a little Frankenstein," a product of years of modifications. As a result, internal development teams frequently find themselves focused on "keeping the lights on" instead of innovating new products.
In contrast, specialists can concentrate on a narrower range of tasks, providing them with an "unfair advantage" in the exploratory stages. Gaspar noted, "The best ideas often come from understanding what is technically possible before everybody else does." The operator provides essential resources to scale successful experiments, including distribution, branding, customer data, and regulatory compliance, while leaving specialists to focus on testing ideas within their niche.
This relationship can create tension. Often, operators acquire specialists for their speed and entrepreneurial spirit, only to impose the very processes that previously hindered organizational agility. Thomas advises that these teams should be allowed to operate with a degree of autonomy, suggesting that while some integration is necessary, it should be gradual. Gaspar emphasized a distinction between integration, which allows specialists access to critical assets, and absorption, which risks stripping them of their unique market advantage. The success of this model hinges on whether specialists can still move quickly from concept to customer experiment compared to their larger counterparts.
The case of Seven highlights the strategic benefits of reusable intellectual property. While Entain has launched the game focused on Premier League football in the UK, their ambition lies in expanding it to other sports and brands. Angstrom has already begun exploring how its scoring mechanics might adapt to other fields like the NFL.
Gaspar posits that reusable capabilities hold more strategic value than custom developments, as they allow faster and cheaper implementation of multiple consumer propositions. Similarly, Thomas stated that Algosport's flexibility allows it to evolve from a simple B2B supplier to an essential partner for innovative companies.
The financial benefits of these flexible arrangements are not always immediate. They may enhance customer acquisition, retention, or frequency, and lower development costs through reusable technology.
However, independent B2B suppliers face risks. A supplier heavily aligned with a single operator could become overly dependent, turning into a bespoke development team reliant on that client's needs. As Gaspar illustrated, the best approach is to focus on "customizing the last mile rather than rebuilding the engine for every customer."
Not all capabilities will be brought in-house either, as even large operators may hesitate to invest in proprietary developments for niche markets. Thus, betting development shops are carving out a vital space in the industry, whether operating within an operator, independently, or in a hybrid model. The competitive landscape is increasingly defined by an operator's ability to assemble specialized capabilities and convert them into desirable products for consumers.
