What is a sports betting agent?
If you are involved in the betting world or are planning to establish your own betting business, you will likely come across the term sports betting agent.
In simple terms, a sports betting agent is a person who is in charge of managing the bets of one or more players. In other words, the players do not place their bets directly in the Sportsbook; instead, the agent is in charge of placing the bets for them.
In several cases, bettors do not even decide which team to bet on, but the agent chooses which bets can give more profit to their clients.
We could say that a sports betting agent is almost like a wall street stockbroker, but for sports betting.
The sports betting agent figure was very popular before the legalization of sports betting in the USA. Since in those times, it was necessary to have a sports betting agent in a state where gambling was legal.
As a result, bettors could place legal bets through the sports betting agent without the need to travel to Las Vegas or Atlantic City.
With the legalization of sports betting, the sports betting agent’s figure has changed, resulting in two types of agents.
The operator agent
Thanks to Pay Per Head providers, agents can now be operators of their own Sportsbook.
Therefore these agents can become bookies and run their own betting business.
Not many sports betting agents choose to become operators, as there are several implications.
On the one hand, the agent has to manage the betting business. For which he needs to develop skills such as business management, marketing, and finance, among others.
And he should also raise the money to build a bankroll that will allow the betting business to operate properly.
When establishing a sportsbook, the sports betting agent has to dedicate himself to managing the business. So he can no longer handle the bets of his clients directly.
The agent must convince his bettors to place their bets on the Sportsbook that he now operates.
Some bettors may not be willing to place their bets themselves. So the agent could lose multiple clients if he becomes a bookie.
On the other hand, the dynamics of running a betting business and being a sports betting agent is very different. Some agents have managed to become successful bookies, but a large majority have failed in the process.
Sub Agent
The term sub-agent was popularized by Pay Per Head companies, which incorporated some special features for agents into their betting software.
These features are aimed at allowing bookies to work with betting sub-agents.
As a result, agents can partner with a bookie who runs a betting business, and they don’t have to incur the expense of creating their own Sportsbook.
This modality frees agents from the task of managing a betting business and allows them to focus on what they do best, handling bets for their clients.
For bookies, this method brings many benefits. Thanks to an agent, they can expand their betting business to new markets and territories without making large investments.
The sub-agent model involves a third figure who is critical for the dynamics to work and is the Bookie Master.
Bookie master
The bookie master is a bookie who operates a betting business through a Pay Per Head provider. But he also works with one or more sub-agents who act on behalf of the betting business.
Those agents attract clients to the business and handled bets for them.
To be a bookie master, you need a good Pay Per Head provider with a state of the art betting software.
Reliable betting software is necessary since it allows the bookie to handle the activity of the sub-agents.
Not all Pay Per Head providers on the market offer the ability to work with sub-agents.
If the bookie intends to become a bookie master, he must choose a Pay Per Head provider that allows it.
Why is the Pay Per Head provider so important?
In the relationship between the bookie master and the sub-agents, the betting software is the one that will determine how well the work dynamics develop.
For the bookie, the betting software will be the control center. From the betting software, the bookie will establish the rules with which the sub-agents can operate.
These rules include betting limits, access to the complete catalog of bets, among others. Also, the bookie can track the deposits and payments of the sub-agent.
Without a good Pay Per Head provider that provides state-of-the-art software for managing sub-agents, the bookie may lose control of what happens in his business.
If the bookie loses control of the business, he may lose money and may even put the entire operation at risk.
Betting software will be their daily workplace for sub-agents. From the software, the sub-agent will manage the accounts of their clients.
From each client account, the sub-agent will transfer money to and from the betting business, and he would also place bets for their clients.
The sub-agent needs software that gives him access to a vast catalog of betting options; with this catalog, he can serve all types of clients.
Also, the sub-agent needs betting software with a robust reporting system. Through the reporting system, the sub-agent will be able to give the proper follow-up to each client.
Betting software is the backbone of the betting business. And the focal point of the collaboration between bookie master and sub-agents.
For the collaboration between bookie master and sub-agent to work, it is also necessary that there be trust between both parties.
Both bookie masters and sub-agents must take the time to learn and determine if the counterpart they want to partner with is the right one.
It doesn’t matter if you have the best betting software on the market. If the relationship between bookie master and sub-agent is not based on trust and collaboration, it is likely to fail.
What is the best figure to start in the betting world: bookie, bookie master, sub-agent?
The truth is that no figure is better than another. Each has its own pros and cons.
People who are considering entering the gambling business should determine which figure suits them best.
If what they want is to dedicate themselves more to the administration of a business and manage aspects such as marketing and finances, then the bookie’s figure is the most appropriate.
But if what you want is to work directly with people, advise bettors and leave the business’s management to a third party, then the best thing is to get a sub-agent.
Regardless of the figure that is chosen to enter the world of gambling, it is advisable to know how the other roles work and perform.
For example, in the case of a bookie, knowing what a sub-agent’s work is like will allow bookies to work better with them. Since the bookie will able to know first-hand the challenges and complexities of sub-agents work.
The same for the sub-agents; knowing how the bookie masters carry out their work gives them better tools to work and collaborate with them.
The advantages of sub-agents
For bookies, having sub-agents can be very beneficial.
The sub-agents will allow the bookie to reach new clients and new markets much easier.
In other words, the bookie will be able to grow his betting business much faster thanks to the sub-agents.
Also, the sub-agents will be in charge of providing personalized treatment to the bettors.
This personalized treatment in the long term will make the bookie’s reputation and his betting business to grow.
It is not easy to work with sub-agents, but if the bookie has a good Pay Per Head provider, he can take full advantage of this figure.
