The Pools, previously recognized as The Football Pools, recently went through a rebranding and significant overhaul of its technical setup to update the long-established UK betting organization. This was a massive undertaking, during which CTO Phillip Donegan and his team dedicated long hours to transferring extensive data to the cloud.
The Football Pools was initially introduced in 1923 in Liverpool and Manchester. In its early days, it was distributing 4,000 betting coupons outside Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium.
Essentially, participants wagered on various fixtures, with outcomes based on draws and wins, and then had the chance to win prizes through a draw.
However, after facing challenges with legacy technology slowing down its operations, the operator discovered that managing player data had become cumbersome and inefficient. To enhance modernization and operational efficiencies, the decision was made not only to rebrand the product but also to completely transform its digital systems.
The shift to new platforms and the migration of all player data to the cloud posed risks that could lead to negative consequences and some downtime for the product.
Migration to GiG Platforms
Despite the challenges, this transformation was essential to rejuvenate The Pools’ product in alignment with its new brand and identity.
“Our current focus is on reinstating The Pools brand in the UK market and developing successful initiatives around our unique membership products, which are modern digital versions of the beloved original Pools games, supplemented with exclusive free-to-play games and other membership perks,” explained Pools CEO James Arnold regarding the operator’s post-tech migration strategy.
Reflecting on the months-long process, the initial step for The Pools was transitioning to GiG’s sportsbook and iGaming platform in January, moving away from FSB Technology, which was acquired by EveryMatrix the previous year, and had its technology completely revamped as part of the integration into EveryMatrix’s operations.
The adoption of GiG’s suite enabled The Pools to incorporate bet-builder features and dynamic odds. The primary aim was not only to modernize The Pools systems but also to ensure scalability as the operator aimed to expand across Europe.
“The GiG platform truly allows us to modernize the classic pools games and transition them into the digital realm, which is crucial for the company’s future,” stated The Pools’ CTO Donegan in an interview with iGB.
Consolidating Decades of Duplicated Historic Player Data
One of the complex tasks involved consolidating The Pools’ historical player data into a unified system. The digital team dedicated several months to migrating years of data onto Microsoft’s Azure public cloud platform.
The objective of this migration was to gain deeper insights into Pools players and leverage their data more effectively.
“We migrated data to shift from on-premise data centers to Azure for cost-effectiveness and higher performance, allowing for automatic scaling as needed,” Donegan explained.
“Our data was scattered across various systems and technologies, with player data stored in SQL Server, MySQL, Postgres Oracle,” Donegan elaborated.
Throughout this process, Donegan’s team faced a significant deduplication challenge, involving identifying and eliminating duplicate data accumulated over the years.
“While we had all our data, the main challenge was reconnecting everything. Multiple accounts in various systems meant consolidating everything into a single player account was crucial,” Donegan noted.
Enhancing Insights into Player Activity
The deduplication process was a prerequisite before migrating any data to the cloud, as GIG’s platform doesn’t allow multiple accounts simultaneously, Donegan highlighted.
“Compared to our past operations, we now possess comprehensive insights into player behavior. This enables us to target them more effectively and enhances player engagement, which can now be monitored in real-time,” Donegan emphasized.
The subscription engine of The Pools was also transitioned to the cloud, a complex software with 18 services embedded within it. Donegan’s team is gradually shifting these services to Azure to eventually retire the outdated on-premise technology previously utilized.
Retiring and Upgrading Legacy Technology Systems
During the digital transformation, some systems were retained while others were phased out.
The Pools traditionally operated offline, with players receiving paper forms for placing bets, returned via mail. Although most systems were digitized, some products were decommissioned due to outdated technology.
“Certain games were powered by an outdated system called Meridian, written in Visual Basic (VB), and reviving it would have been costly. Hence, we decided to decommission it,” Donegan revealed.
VB is a Microsoft-developed programming language commonly used for various applications, particularly on the .NET platform.
Several systems incorporated by The Pools were reconstructed from scratch, such as the marking system, now redesigned using contemporary technology. The previous marking system was Java-based, but Donegan’s team is transitioning to the .NET framework developed by Microsoft.
“Our goal is to migrate most operations to .NET instead of being spread across .NET, Ruby, VB, and Java as before,” Donegan stated.
Despite the modernization efforts, Donegan intends to reintroduce some classic games in an updated format.
“We aim to implement a single payment provider to restore some of the games that were removed from the site but are planned for reintegration, like the Premier Six and Premier Ten games. Completing the new marking engine is essential for these services,” Donegan explained.
Integration of AI at The Pools
As part of its modernization drive, The Pools is embracing AI technology to streamline backend and customer-oriented processes.
Collaborating with Intercom, an AI agent supplier, The Pools introduced customer service chatbots for efficient customer interactions. While human agents handle player interactions currently, this new system will reduce the dependency on human agents, offering swift responses to basic inquiries.
All legal documents of The Pools are now hosted on a Microsoft SharePoint site, with an AI co-pilot agent that scans numerous documents instantly. This enables staff to query the agent for specific information, enhancing operational efficiency.
“This real-time data retrieval significantly reduces manual effort, making information readily available instead of combing through numerous documents. The initial setup took a few hours but will save hundreds of hours annually, with a pay-as-you-use model,” Donegan explained.
Future Prospects: Geographical Expansion
Donegan anticipates a period of exploration during the digitization process, responding to emerging technical hurdles as they arise. A primary concern during the technical transition is how long-standing Pools users will adapt to the new processes.
“The player base’s response to the new platform will be crucial. We may need to add new features to the product roadmap to meet demand. Adaptability will be a significant challenge in the upcoming year,” Donegan emphasized.
Although The Pools focuses on rebranding and digital launch efforts in the UK, Arnold eyes further expansion into new territories. The recent tech and product transformation will support this goal, enabling The Pools to compete globally.
“The games’ small bets with big wins concept is ideal for numerous fast-growing markets, especially in Africa, Latin and South America, where discussions with potential partners are ongoing for future growth opportunities,” Arnold concluded.
