Following its acquisition by Entain in 2023, Angstrom has been a frequent topic of conversation yet often remained silent. While it was talked about on earnings calls by various parties including Entain, BetMGM, and MGM Resorts, a deeper understanding of Angstrom's role has been limited. That has begun to shift after Entain recently highlighted Angstrom's development of a free-to-play game called Seven, indicating a new chapter for the company.
This marks a significant moment for Angstrom as it begins to showcase its behind-the-scenes initiatives and suggests a broader evolution in betting product development in the years ahead.
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 would be part of Angstrom’s roadmap, I don’t think many people would have placed that bet."
Originally brought into the Entain fold for its expertise in U.S. pricing and modeling, Angstrom's F2P game represents a strategic shift toward operating as an internal "dev shop." This concept involves relatively autonomous teams utilizing their technological and specialized knowledge to create products that go beyond their initial purpose.
Leo Gaspar, founder of Adria Nexus Consulting, observed that the barrier between providing technology and designing consumer solutions is starting to blur. "The strongest specialist companies increasingly understand not only the technology they provide, but the consumer problem that technology can solve." Once this understanding is achieved, moving into product development becomes a logical next step.
While major betting operators maintain large tech and product teams, those teams are often preoccupied with platform maintenance, regulatory compliance, localizing products, and managing various technical aspects of operations. Marc Thomas, managing director at Algosport, referred to some operator platforms as "a little Frankenstein," indicating they have evolved through years of modifications. As a result, internal teams may end up focusing more on keeping existing services active instead of innovating new products.
The advantages specialists bring include heightened focus and reduced organizational complexities. The development of the Seven app began with initial discussions between Jarvis and Angstrom CEO Jonathan Blezard, paving the way for an 18-month development process. Angstrom's expertise in modeling was crucial in crafting the game's consumer proposition, employing historical data from the English Premier League to shape elements like the prize structure and player selection.
Gaspar emphasized that such concentrated knowledge provides specialists with an "unfair advantage" during exploratory phases, stating, "The best ideas often come from understanding what is technically possible before everybody else does."
Entain, as the operator, offers valuable resources necessary for scaling up the experiment into a fully developed product, including distribution channels, brand recognition, customer data, infrastructure, and regulatory insight. This arrangement allows specialists to focus exclusively on domain expertise and testing their ideas before they become intertwined with larger organizational processes.
However, a tension exists as operators tend to impose their bureaucratic processes on acquired specialists, which can stifle the agility that made the specialists appealing in the first place. Thomas suggested a straightforward approach: “Basically, try and leave them alone.” While some degree of integration is necessary, it should be gradual. Gaspar made a distinction between integration and absorption, stating, "Integration means giving the specialist access to the operator’s assets… Absorption means turning it into another development team competing for resources inside the same organizational structure."
Finding the right balance can enhance the acquired firm, but failing to maintain its unique value risks diminishing the very qualities that made it beneficial. Gaspar advocates for a practical measure: assessing whether the specialist can still rapidly transition an idea into a customer experiment compared to the main organization’s timeline.
The development of Seven also showcases the potential of reusable intellectual property. Although Entain has launched the game centered on Premier League football in the UK, it plans to expand this model to other brands, markets, and sports. Angstrom has already begun exploring how its game mechanics could translate to NFL touchdowns.
Gaspar asserts that reusable capabilities hold greater strategic value than custom development, provided they don’t lead to identical white-label products. He said, "You might have one core piece of IP underneath several very different consumer propositions. For the operator, each additional implementation becomes faster and cheaper. For the supplier, development creates an asset rather than simply another completed project."
Thomas observed similar trends with Algosport, noting that its core products are delivered through Blackbox software, while partners frequently build additional services around the technology. The flexibility allows Algosport to evolve from being merely a B2B supplier to a more integral resource for innovative companies.
The commercial impacts of such arrangements may not always be directly evident as revenue. New products can lead to improvements in customer acquisition, retention, and personalization. Additionally, reusable technology can lower development costs and reduce reliance on external suppliers.
Independent B2B companies face their risks as well. A supplier that closely collaborates with a specific operator might transform into a custom development team overly reliant on that operator's roadmap and revenue. Gaspar suggests that the key defense against this is to customize interfaces and experiences for customers without overhauling their foundational technology.
Not every capability will be developed internally. Thomas noted that even large operators might not justify proprietary development for lower-revenue sports, thus allowing suppliers who serve multiple clients to capitalize on economies of scale.
The emerging betting dev shop model occupies a vital position within the industry. It can exist within an operator, function independently, or operate in a hybrid capacity. The competitive challenge is shifting from merely employing developers to effectively assembling specialized capabilities and transforming them into desirable products for customers.
