Radar Geolocation Moving into the Gaming Space, Challenging Dominant GeoComply

Article ByDavid Weir

October 20, 2023

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Posted in: US Casino News, Federal Gambling News, US Gambling News, US Sports Betting News

Radar, a commercial geolocation services provider, has recently announced it is expanding into the U.S. online casinos and sports betting space.

Because of the fragmented nature of U.S. gambling laws, every state with legalized gambling has required operators to incorporate geo-location technology to ensure players aren’t logging in from out of state bounds.

Up until now, this has meant operators partnering with GeoComply. The Canadian firm was the first on the scene with the available technology when U.S. online gambling began legalization, and it has basically had a monopoly market since then. So much so that GeoComply location pings are practically synonymous with overall betting activity in the U.S, as we looked at in week 1 of the 23/24 NFL season.

Only one other limited provider, XPoint, offers similar geolocation services, and only to New Jersey online sportsbooks.

Radar is an experienced geolocation provider, and it feels it can move into this space with an alternative pricing model to shake up competion.

It was founded seven years ago by Nick Patrick and Coby Berman, and today processes more than 100 billion API calls per year for various companies, including Dairy Queen, T-Mobile, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

High Bar of Accuracy

Speaking at the recent 2023 G2E Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, Radar CEO Nick Patrick highlighted the complexity of providing services to the gaming industry.

“A lot of start-ups entering the gaming space have engineering teams that are looking for modern, flexible tools,” he said.

“That’s a big part of our approach. … Our customers have a really high bar when it comes to accuracy and reliability. We work with delivery tracking companies that need to make sure that location tracking works, and that it’s reliable and accurate.”

Patrick’s experience with Foursquare, a location-based social app, has given him insight into the challenges faced by the gaming industry, such as people spoofing their location to access sports betting apps outside legal jurisdictions.

He believes Radar is up to the task of overcoming those challenges, even when entering a new business sector for the company.

“There’s definitely added stakes and added complexity,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I think the technical challenges around seeing if you’re inside a particular state or inside a casino geofence, we really excel at those technical challenges.”

Radar’s Pricing Model

Radar’s approach to the gaming industry is to offer modern, flexible tools that are developer-friendly and cost-effective.

Their alternative pricing structure is one key hook that it hopes to give online sportsbooks or casinos.

The company intends to ask for a flat monthly fee per tracked user, rather than per data ping, as GeoComply does. Patrick says this will provide flexibility and the opportunity for innovation that is currently discouraged by a pay-per-ping model.

“We find that this makes it easier to forecast costs, check a player’s location as often as needed, and expand beyond geo-compliance to other use cases like on-property app experiences and location-based messaging at no additional charge,” he said.

Location-based messaging or property experiences could mean unique bonuses, bets, or games for players who log on to their online casino apps while physically in the same operator’s casino venue, or those who open a sportsbook app for some football betting while in an NFL stadium on game day.