Capturing the Fan Base: How an Australian Sports Media Network Launched a High-Traffic Betting App
Industry Media, Sports Entertainment
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$10B+ Client Revenues
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12+ Successful Years
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1000+ IT Ninjas
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5000+ Projects
Client's Testimonial
Performance was non-negotiable for us. Our app had to be lightning fast and handle massive traffic spikes during live matches. The Developers.dev Site-Reliability-Engineering Pod was incredible. They built a platform that is not only fast but incredibly resilient. Our user engagement is through the roof, and the platform has become a significant profit center for the network.
Olivia Hayes, General Manager of Digital Products
Client Introduction
One of Australia's largest sports media networks, with a massive digital audience across their news websites, streaming services, and fantasy sports products. They wanted to leverage their trusted brand and huge user base to enter the lucrative sports betting market, creating a new revenue stream and increasing fan engagement.
Problem
The client needed a white-label sports betting application that could be branded as their own and handle millions of concurrent users during major sporting events like the Melbourne Cup and AFL Grand Final. The app had to deliver a flawless, high-speed user experience to protect their brand's reputation for quality.
Key Challenges
Extreme Scalability
The architecture had to withstand enormous, sudden traffic surges without any degradation in performance.
User Experience
The app needed a polished, media-rich UI/UX that felt like a natural extension of their existing digital properties.
Data Integration
Had to integrate seamlessly with their existing user account database and content management systems (CMS).
Brand Protection
Any downtime or security issue would result in significant damage to their highly valuable brand.
Our Solution
We focused on a performance-first approach, assigning our "Site-Reliability-Engineering / Observability Pod" to work alongside the core development team from day one.
☁️ Serverless Architecture
We chose an AWS Serverless & Event-Driven architecture, using services like Lambda and DynamoDB to ensure massive, automatic scalability and cost-efficiency.
⚡ Performance Engineering
We conducted rigorous load testing at every stage of development, simulating traffic spikes far exceeding their projected peak loads.
🔗 Headless CMS Integration
We integrated their existing CMS in a headless fashion, allowing their editorial team to push content and promotions to the app seamlessly.
📱 Native Mobile Excellence
We assigned our Native iOS and Native Android PODs to build two separate, highly optimized applications to ensure the best possible performance and user experience on each platform.
Implementation and Execution
Phase 1 (Months 1-2)
Architectural design with a focus on SRE principles, API definition, and UI/UX prototyping.
Phase 2 (Months 3-6)
Parallel development of the serverless backend, Native iOS app, and Native Android app.
Phase 3 (Months 7-8)
Integration with the client's user authentication system, CMS, and third-party data feeds.
Phase 4 (Month 9)
Extensive load testing, performance tuning, and security audits.
Phase 5 (Month 10)
Soft launch to a segment of their fantasy sports users for feedback and real-world testing.
Phase 6 (Month 11)
Major marketing push and public launch ahead of the peak sports season.
Positive Outcome
🚀 Performance
The platform handled over 1 million concurrent users during the AFL Grand Final with zero downtime and sub-200ms API response times.
🎯 User Conversion
Converted 15% of their existing media audience into active depositors within the first six months.
❤️🔥 Engagement
The average user session length was 50% higher than competing betting apps due to the rich media integration and fast performance.
💰 Revenue
The platform generated over $20M in revenue in its first year of operation.
Why Choose Us
🛠️ Site Reliability Engineering
Our ability to audit and pinpoint core issues was key.
🚦 High-Traffic Architecture
We weren't scared off by a messy, complex codebase.
📱 Native App Expertise
Our AWS and performance tuning expertise was critical to the solution.
🏷️ White-Label Solutions
Our phased approach de-risked a very dangerous migration.
🤝 Seamless Integration
We understood the academic calendar and the stakes of online exams.
⚡ Performance Engineering
The IT Director was kept informed with daily status updates.
☁️ AWS Serverless Mastery
We didn't just offer to rebuild; we offered to rescue and improve their existing investment.
👑 Brand-First Approach
We committed to specific performance metrics and delivered on them.
📈 Proven Scalability
We now provide ongoing managed services and support, ensuring the platform remains healthy.
Conclusion
This project proves our capability to deliver mission-critical, high-performance applications for major brands where failure is not an option. Our focus on reliability and performance engineering ensured the client could protect their brand and capitalize on their massive audience.