As part of the VI International Hockey Forum, leading experts in the fields of sports, business, and media discussed digital services for fans, their impact on the game, and the interest in sports.

One of the main speakers of the session was Igor Stolyarov, Deputy CEO of "Liga Stavok." He talked about key trends in sports, innovative methods of engaging with fans, and the role of "Liga Stavok" in the development of global hockey.

"We are in an advanced digital environment right now."

We are not just online; we are in an advanced digital environment. Hockey is integrating into the consumption structure through digital channels and messengers. The most valuable audience consists of active users of the brand's, club's, or national team's mobile applications.

Personalization takes center stage. Without it, forming a loyal hockey audience is simply impossible. Every fan should see in their personal device what is needed and interesting to them. Predictive models are used in marketing for this purpose. By the way, in our country, the process of implementing such technologies is most effective in the bookmaking industry.

Western European clubs also actively demonstrate the use of digital technologies: many of them have already started launching fan tokens as a tool to engage with the audience. Fans gain additional privileges – the ability to vote and even influence club management decisions. In Russia, one of the 2021 trends in crypto investments was NFT tokens, a new phenomenon for a broad audience.

Liga Stavok became the first bookmaker to list its NFT token on the OpenSea exchange. For the Russian bookmaking market, this is a technological breakthrough! No Russian bookmaker had been represented in this rapidly developing segment before us.

"Cyber Leagues and Phygital – the Future of Sports"

It is evident that interest in traditional competitions is declining, while interest in esports is growing. A fundamentally new generation of sports fans is emerging. In Russia, there are already more than 15 million fans and nearly 20,000 esports athletes.

According to the Russian Esports Federation, the potential audience, including viewers, fans, and gamers, amounts to 60 million people. Creating Phygital – an innovative format of competitions – is the most interesting challenge for the future of the sports industry and related sectors. The first step towards the games of the future has already been taken: a technological platform has been created to unite sporting competitions in both the real and virtual worlds.

Regarding our partnership with the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, we also have a successful esports case. Together with the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, we implemented the first-ever Cyber League in the history of hockey. Matches took place 1v1 in an online mode on the PlayStation 4 platform. Athletes competed for the title of the best in NHL20.

"Liga Stavok's strategy – increasing presence in global hockey"

Liga Stavok is the only Russian bookmaking company that is fully integrated into hockey, both on a national and global level. Since 2017, the company has been collaborating with the Russian Ice Hockey Federation as an official partner, in 2020 it became the official sponsor of the Ice Hockey World Championship, and in 2021, it signed a contract with the NHL. Liga Stavok's strategy is to increase its presence in global hockey. The World Championship and NHL are not the limits. We are considering cooperation with some KHL clubs. And, of course, in 2022, we will extend our contract with the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and continue to strengthen the status of our hockey worldwide.