An industry expert who formerly served as a C-suite executive at...

An industry expert who formerly served as a C-suite executive at a Top 10 sportsbook has been underwhelmed in the past by apps from several major operators. Without naming any names, he noted that some apps were expected to be really good, but wound up being extremely slow and “breaking half the time.”

With an increased emphasis on in-game betting, speed is at a premium. The apps that can deliver sub-second latency, from the time a play occurs to the instant the odds are updated, will likely be the ones that prosper.

In his estimation, the three apps that have met the gold standard are FanDuel, DraftKings, and PointsBet.

“If Fanatics is anywhere close to as fast as those, then that’s a win,” he told Sports Handle.

Data science teams are also challenged with balancing user experience (UX) and user interface (UI), two mutually reliant conditions. The interface component deals with a customer’s interaction with the app software, while user experience relates to the bettor’s experience with the brand. Many apps strive to reduce as much UX friction between the player onboarding process and their initial bet, according to the insider. Friction as it relates to mobile sports betting users is defined as any impediment that prevents a user from achieving a desired action on an app.

“Some apps have a lot more friction than others,” he said. “Hopefully they have good product people and, by all accounts, they should, just looking at their team.”