Totalizator Sportowy and IGT: building connection with football fans
Wherever fans are, whatever it is called, football is the beautiful game that is loved and embraced around the world, including in Poland. The recent UEFA European Football Championship is still top of mind for many fans, having started in June and culminated in the final match on July 14.
Loving Lewandowski
IGT’s bespoke eInstant featuring Polish football great Robert Lewandowski has been extremely successful for Totalizator Sportowy (TS), Poland’s national lottery. Launched in November 2022 around the Football World Cup, the Lewandowski eInstant game is still in the top three of the Polish Lottery’s top-performing games. The game owed its initial popularity to Lewandowski for his Polish football career and its appeal continues thanks to his ongoing contributions to the sport as part of the FC Barcelona team. The staying power of the Lewandowski game is a testament to its enjoyable mechanic and creative execution, designed in the colors of the Polish flag, capturing national spirit.
TS asked IGT to develop a new, relevant game offering and shared some of their desired elements for the final product.
Based on the success of the Lewandowski eInstant, IGT recommended that launching a new bespoke sports title around football, just for TS, would be well received by lottery players.
A League of Their Own
TS is a committed partner of the Ekstraklasa SA, the top tier of the Polish professional football league. The LOTTO logo, a lottery brand owned by Totalizator Sportowy, is featured on League players’ shirts, and the Lottery was eager to find another vehicle to promote the TS/League sponsorship.
IGT was excited to develop GOL! GOL! GOL!, tailored to the specific needs and interests of the Polish market, underscoring IGT’s commitment to creating personalized and engaging experiences.
It was important to TS as a partner that the final game include all the teams in the League, and that each team had equal billing and exposure. The IGT eInstants studio recognized these criteria and created an exciting game that encompassed the 18 League competitors meeting these requirements.
Game On
To create the bespoke football game for TS, IGT used the same impactful “Collect Symbol Match” mechanic that was popular for the Beach Bonanza game and became part of the much-loved seasonal Santa’s Treasure title.
For the game loading screen, the IGT eInstants studio created a dynamic, colorful logo emphasizing the excitement of a speeding ball headed for the goal.
Playing Favorites
A new key game screen leverages the recognizable logos for each of the 18 Ekstraklasa teams. It allows the player to pick their team to play along with and determines the winning symbol in the game. If the player gets three of those winning symbols, they win. Plus, for any players who are not loyal to a specific team and just want to play, they could select “AUTO” and be randomly assigned to a team.
“Because players can choose between different teams, a unique individualized touch is added to the gameplay,” said Mateusz Warpas, Product Owner, iLottery and eInstants, Totalizator Sportowy. “This further expands the appeal of the game from general football fans to followers of specific Polish clubs.”
Players recognize the Ekstraklasa logo, cleverly repeated across the game screen, covering hidden symbols such as football-themed icons (pitches, gloves, flags, red and yellow cards) and the winning crests. Depending on how many crests the players collect, they win a prize. As targets are tackled, the player can win prizes in the Target Bonus or reveal the winning jerseys in the Pick Bonus to take home a win. There is even a bonus round for more football excitement.
Click to experience the eInstant game content!
The IGT eInstants team designed the game to be flexible and enjoyed by players all year long. Poland has a system of teams advancing or being relegated from the League. In the post-season period, the IGT eInstants team will continue to update the content of the screen featuring the 18 League teams, as the club consideration-set changes from season to season. This refresh will provide TS with a repeat opportunity to inform players that the game they love is back – and new – thanks to the updated creative each season.
The game offers Polish players the opportunity to win up to PLN 250,000 (approximately US$62,375) and innovatively creates a way to show their affinity for a favorite team, enhancing localization and engagement by connecting them with Ekstraklasa.
MVP Marketing
IGT’s collaboration with the customer was key in leveraging Ekstraklasa assets, further enriching the game's appeal. Their involvement extended to promoting the game via commercials on the banner fields ahead of the launch, reinforcing the strength of the partnership.
“The GOL! GOL! GOL! game provided Totalizator Sportowy and Ekstraklasa, the top Polish professional football league, with a very appealing platform to do enhanced marketing, both nationally and locally,” said Bartosz Nowaczyk, Department Director, Online Sales, Totalizator Sportowy. “Totalizator Sportowy and the league generated awareness for the game at time of launch with social media, and some of the football clubs supported the promotion effort too.”
TS also developed a contest for free VIP tickets to see their favorite team in a live game for which entrants had to provide a creative explanation of which Ekstraklasa player impresses them most or which Ekstraklasa club should win the Championship and why. In all the football stadiums, TS advertised on familiar commercial advertising banners around the pitch.
Also, unique local ads were created for stadiums in markets such as Warsaw, Krakow, and Poznań to provide localized marketing. “With this product, what I really love is here we have created a game which can be really, really localized,” said Sebastian Meitz, IGT’s iLottery Account Development Director. “If a fan is cheering for their team in a small county of 5,000 people, they can still build their connection not only to the league, but also to the Lottery, through this unique game.”
Always In Season
Because the Ekstraklasa season is split into two rounds of Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer, the eInstant game helped fans stay engaged with the League even during the customary few weeks pause in the competitive season.
“GOL! GOL! GOL! is a great vehicle for marketing communications, for promotional activities, and for building connections with iLottery players on the local level,” said Meitz. "As a partner of Ekstraklasa SA, TS joined forces with IGT to design the eInstant game, which is not just a game, but a journey to the heart of football passions. GOL! GOL! GOL! provides an opportunity for players to win, a celebration of local pride, an expansion of the player base, and a new way for fans to feel even more connected to their favorite teams and TS.”
Talk to your IGT representative to learn how IGT can deliver exceptional custom iLottery experiences for your players.
