Sports Betting Platforms
Users want to discuss their decisions and support their team simultaneously. Let them exchange their expertise and predictions in a safe and comfortable space right on your platform.
Integrating the chat into a sportsbook? The Sportsbook and iGaming Integration Blueprint collects rooms, entry points and the integration checklist on one page.
Please read the document How to gather audiences in rooms
The ways chats can work and be placed on a platform
Separate public chats for every event available
A chat is located on an event page. The chat button is available on all event pages. Chats expire several hours after the event ends (this period can be changed to several days or any time the event is still available on the platform). Users can switch between different chats for different events. These chats are placed as close as possible to the content. Users like this approach because they stay updated on the events and changes in the market.
A chat can be opened by clicking the button or moving between tabs (more suitable for mobile apps and web versions). The last message widget integrated into the platform can also serve as an entry point, allowing users to access the chat by clicking on the widget.
United chat for all events
This chat can be placed for all users’ talks, complementing the separate event chats. Users discuss what to watch or bet next, avoiding links to specific events. It’s more suitable for platforms with fewer active users (<2-5 K). The chat button can be placed separately or in a tab bar. Separating this chat from the support one is essential due to suitable placement and additional notifications/tooltips.
If you select this approach and place entry points to different events, please note that you can have many chats with all of these entry points, or one general chat, but with various entries. The first approach is more effective with platforms that have many users, while the second approach is more suitable for smaller ones. Read more about gathering audiences in rooms
If you started with event chats but then decided to unite them into one chat, keeping all event entry points, you can do it easily. At Settings – Functional Settings, you can activate a toggle, Force single room. The system will ignore different RoomIDs and send all your users to the same chat, even if they open it from different entry points.
FLOATING BUTTON
It is convenient for users because they can open and close any time from any place on the platform or app. When selecting this approach, be sure that the chat floating button won't be confused with support. This approach is relevant just for mobile versions. For web, a floating button won't be visible and most probably will be confused with support or other non-target buttons.
The floating button can be replaced with an element of any form factor. The essential part is accessibility to open the chat at any moment while scrolling through the platform.
MOBILE ONLY
BOTTOM, OR SIDE SHEET// DRAWER
A similar approach to a floating button, this type of entry point is available to users from any place in an app or website. Users can open and close a chat anytime they wish. The element to open the chat can be placed on the side of the screen.
WEB DESKTOP
MOBILE
CHAT TAB
A chat entry point is added to the feature/market/other tabs, so the chat entry is naturally integrated into the content
WEB
MOBILE
OPEN CHAT BY DEFAULT
A chat is open by default; users can close it if they wish, but considering that the chat is located in the compact part of the page, it usually stays open. This is relevant only for web pages because of the compact space on mobile.
WEB ONLY
LAST MESSAGE WIDGET
It updates every 30 seconds and displays a last message sent in a chat. Users open a chat by clicking on a widget.
DESKTOP WEB
MOBILE
Chat in a video player
When the platform has broadcast rights, chat can be integrated directly into the video player:
A public chat for a tournament or specific sport
You can distinguish chats for various tournaments or types of sports. It can done through a one chat with several tabs for different sports (probably, most users will communicate in the first tab chat). It depends on you how users are gathered in chat: a chat is opened with a RoomID transferred.
Fan club chat feature works, if activated, in a similar way: when users have their main chat but also a chat tab available for other members of the same club. More about Fan Clubs: https://docs.watchers.io/docs/fan-clubs
Private platform-driven chats
Editorial private chats for special events (with access by the link) or for the participation of particular user groups (who have a subscription, VIP status, etc.). You can invite guests, influencers, athletes to host audio or video streaming within the app or website.
Private UG chats
Private chats created by users (with access by an invitation link).