The premise was that whilst in the pub, watching the match, you would be able to bet on a game and be rewarded items. The reward would be cards which you would have to trade with friends. By the end of the competition you would try and gain all the stickers.

The premise of the game is that the player will have to live bet on the next player to score a goal or get booked. Every correct prediction will result in winning a card. To add gamification to the game, friends would create leagues which will allow people to complete against each other.

Technically there were a collection of challenge: finding a data provider that can provide match data in a schema which is consistent match to match; providing goal and booking data quickly after the actual event; managing rewarding all winning users cards quickly after establishing a point winning event.

In addition there was a social media board which allowed friends to ‘banter’ with each other. Connecting with various social media providers allowed the user to invite friends to create connections and leagues.

The size of the project became too ambitious when we had to entertain talking with betting commissions regarding how close we were to becoming a betting agency. Time ran away. However we took the idea from pub to finished within 3 weeks. Converting the idea into a workable game, designing and building. Including the playing cards. Sadly this style of game needs the backing of the media to market the solution. I am not sorry I tried, I am sorry that I didn’t get a better tan that year. It taught me so much more about the elements outside of tech build to create a product. Legal identities, insurances and commissions.

There was a strategic plan to develop the game into an annual event game for the Premier League. Or a club to club game at a time when teams were producing online solutions to build brand value. Unfortunately the licensing for Premier League match data is very high (as you would expect). The costs of a data feed which would mimic a betting site are a further expense. Therefore ,sadly, beyond the one World Cup, the site and game was abandoned. Over the years Panini have created their own solution. Personally I think ours is better, a betting style element, gamification and the ability for friends to compete in pub team style leagues.

Every time I see these designs I want to dig out the code and give it a second chance…