Altenar continues to strengthen its footprint across Asia as part of its broader international growth strategy. We spoke with Vagelis Bairlis, Head of Sales Operations at Altenar, about the company’s approach to expansion in regulated markets, why localisation remains central to success across the region, and how its sportsbook technology is evolving to meet changing player expectations.
- Altenar has officially entered the regulated Philippine market through its partnership with ArenaPlus. What made the Philippines the right market for expansion at this stage of Altenar’s growth in Asia?
The Philippines represents one of the most dynamic and rapidly-growing regulated iGaming landscapes in the world, making it the perfect focal point for our expansion in Asia. Driven by a proactive and clear regulatory framework under PAGCOR, the market offers the exact stability and long-term viability that Altenar looks for when deploying its technology.
At this stage of our global growth, we are focused on entering territories where we can establish a deeply rooted, compliant presence. Partnering with a premier, market-leading brand like ArenaPlus allows us to enter the Philippine market at the very highest level, demonstrating the scalability, robustness, and regulatory readiness of our sportsbook solution.
- The Philippines is recognised as a highly mobile-first and sports-engaged market. What specific market trends did Altenar identify and seek to cater for before launching in the Philippines?
Our pre-launch research highlighted a digital-savvy demographic demanding a fast, interactive, and deeply localised user experience. To deliver this, we leveraged our highly flexible, widget-based front-end technology to provide a customisable, zero-latency UI. This adaptable framework allowed us to optimise layouts in real time and seamlessly integrate tailored content, ensuring the platform remains incredibly fast and responsive.
Crucially, we used this front-end agility to cater to the country's intense passion for basketball. Rather than offering a standard layout, we customised our interface to prioritise exhaustive, high-tier coverage of both global giants like the NBA as well as the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) and other beloved local leagues, capturing the true pulse of Filipino sports culture.
- Localisation and enhanced PBA player props are major features of the partnership. How important is localised content and betting experience when competing in Southeast Asian markets?
Localisation is not just important; it is the ultimate differentiator in Southeast Asia. A one-size-fits-all global sportsbook simply will not succeed here. In the Philippines, basketball is king, and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a national passion.
By introducing deeply localised content, specifically enhanced PBA player props and specialised end-game markets, we give Filipino fans a personalised way to engage with their favourite local athletes. True localisation means understanding the cultural nuances of what players want to bet on and how they want to see it displayed. This precision tailoring is how Altenar helps its partners outpace competitors.
- Live betting demand continues to grow rapidly across Asia. How has Altenar adapted its sportsbook technology to meet the expectations of Filipino bettors specifically?
Filipino bettors expect live betting to be fast, intuitive, and uninterrupted. To meet these high expectations, Altenar has heavily invested in premium, official real-time data feeds, eliminating reliance on single-source streams. This ensures faster odds updates and instant bet acceptance.
We have adapted our live-betting UI to include features like Fast Markets and our customisable Bet Builder, optimised specifically for mobile viewports. By removing the traditional latency associated with mobile browser betting and utilising our proprietary rendering engine, we ensure that live betting is a smooth, real-time extension of the sporting event itself.
