Platform
Managed Trading Service
Definition
A B2B service in which a supplier prices markets, manages risk and settles bets on behalf of a sportsbook operator, so that the operator offers a full sportsbook without its own trading team. Priced as a share of the operator’s sports revenue, with the operator setting risk appetite and margin targets.
Key takeaways
- A managed trading service prices, manages risk and settles on an operator’s behalf for a share of sports revenue.
- It lets an operator run a full sportsbook without a trading floor; most sportsbooks use one for some or all markets.
- Operators on the same service show similar prices, so they compete on brand, product and promotions instead.
- Large operators move from fully managed to hybrid to in-house as they scale; switching providers is a migration.
Why it matters
Most sportsbooks do not trade their own book. Pricing tens of thousands of events across dozens of sports, around the clock and in play, needs models, data rights, and a large trading floor, and only the largest operators run all of that themselves. A managed trading service supplies it: the provider's traders and models set the prices, manage the liabilities, settle the results and handle the disputes, across every operator on its platform at once, and the operator configures margins, limits and which markets to offer. The operator's revenue share to the provider pays for it.
The model determines what an operator can differentiate on. With a managed service, the prices an operator shows are broadly the prices its competitors on the same service show, so competition moves to brand, promotions, product features and the sports the operator chooses to emphasise. Operators that want their own prices on the events that matter to them (a local league, a signature sport) layer an in-house trading team on top of the managed service for those markets while leaving the long tail to the provider, and the industry's larger operators have followed a path from fully managed to hybrid to in-house as they scaled.
The provider's commercial position is strong because switching is hard: the trading service is entangled with the sportsbook platform, the data feeds and the risk systems, and moving it is a migration. Regulators treat managed trading as a critical supply: the provider needs a B2B licence in markets that license suppliers, and the operator remains responsible for the fairness and accuracy of the prices it shows.
Frequently asked questions
What does a managed trading service actually do?
Sets and moves the odds on every market the operator offers, manages liabilities and bet acceptance within the operator’s risk settings, settles bets when results are confirmed and supports dispute resolution.
Can an operator on a managed service set its own prices?
Within limits. It sets margin targets and market selection, and can override or trade specific markets in-house. The hybrid model, managed long tail with in-house trading on key events, is common.
Who is responsible for a wrong price under a managed service?
The operator, as far as the customer and the regulator are concerned. The contract with the provider allocates the cost between them, but the licence holder answers for what it publishes.