Subscription Platform for Sports Betting Creators

Overview

At OddsShopper, I designed Tails™, an all new subscription platform product in the sports betting space that we took from 0-1. We saw an opportunity in the field to capture a large market share by providing a product that not only met the needs of the betting experts and stepped up where competitors were falling short, but also provided a fun and engaging environment for casual bettors (subscribers) to visit on a regular basis for access to sports betting content from their favorite experts.

Role:

Product Designer

Timeline:

3 weeks

Problem Space

Before Tails™, bettors often relied on insufficient subscription platforms, social media or word-of-mouth to find expert bettors, which made credibility questionable and difficult to verify. Meanwhile, expert bettors had limited tools for selling their picks and struggled to build sustainable businesses.

Our goal was to answer the question: How might we create a platform that provides a transparent, reliable experience for subscribers looking to discover and follow vetted sports betting experts, as well as sports betting experts wanting to monetize their sports betting content.

Research

Due to an extremely tight timeline, I worked through some rapid research methods. To understand both user groups, I conducted interviews with both Insiders and Users, analyzed competitor platforms, and mapped existing user journeys.

Interviews

Utilizing a general user interview approach, I wanted to explore the needs of two user groups that representing our target users. I conducted several interviews and conversations with the respective groups and came away with a few key insights.

Target User Groups
The Sports Betting Expert

Betting Experts looking to monetize their picks & content

Interviews:

7

Ages:

29 - 38

Location:

United States

The Casual Sports Bettor

Sports bettors who follow picks made by Expert bettors

Interviews:

10

Ages:

24 - 45

Location:

United States

Key Insights

  • Transparency builds credibility: Insiders need their past bet picks displayed in a way that reinforces authenticity and ensured there was no deceptive practice.

  • Friction kills adoption: Both groups need simple, streamlined subscription, onboarding and navigation.

  • Delivery speed matters: Because betting lines shift quickly, experts want to send notifications when they create a new post, and subscribers expect instant access to picks.

Competitive Analysis

To get a better pulse on the competitive market, I conducted a SWOT analysis on three competitors to learn how our strengths and weaknesses measure up to the competition, as well as discover market opportunities and potential threats we'd be facing.

SWOT Analysis:
DubClub
Strengths

  • Largest member base at 2 million subscribers

  • Clean UI that’s easy to navigate for users

  • Frictionless subscription process

  • Anyone can sell picks as an expert

  • Interactive leaderboards that boost engagement

Weaknesses

  • Do not serve the needs of experts well

  • Content feed is lacking critical features

  • Allowing anyone to sell picks makes it harder for experts to be seen

Opportunities

  • We can adopt a social media-like feed that is more familiar to users

  • Direct linking to bets

  • Better met expert needs can lead to smoother conversion

  • Only allowing vetted experts sell to picks for a more curated expert offering

Threats

  • Bettors are accustomed to simplified UI and switching costs could be hard to overcome

  • Non-compete clauses with high-profile experts

  • They have a large team fully dedicated to this product

Winible
Strengths

  • Robust expert support system

  • Strong expert data tracking and analytics

  • No content feed for bettors to scroll

Weaknesses

  • Confusing UX for subscribing bettors

  • No universal content feed for bettors to scroll

  • Subscription process has too many steps

Opportunities

  • A more intuitive experience for bettors looking to find and follow experts

  • A content feed that allows users to view all of their free and paid content in one place

  • A more focused system of expert data tracking and analysis could be attractive to experts

Threats

  • It will take time to create the expert data tracking and analysis systems

  • Winible focuses mainly on expert support so it may be challenging to convince them our service is better

Whop
Strengths

  • Strong onboarding process for bettors

  • Strong expert profile page that makes it easy for bettors to understand what is being sold

  • Frictionless subscription process

  • Experts have to put in very little work to get their profile up and running and their marketing can happen externally through X.com or similar platforms

Weaknesses

  • Confusing navigation structure

  • Content feed is sporadic and doesn’t feel like a conventional content feed

  • Ability to direct message leads to high-profile experts being flooded with messages

  • Experts make a small percentage

Opportunities

  • An intuitive content feed that is more universal to mainstream feeds users are familiar with

  • A more exclusive list of experts with more lucrative contracts

  • Reduced feature set could help with a more intuitive navigation structure and user experience

Threats

  • They only support a mobile app and can move fast with iteration

  • Known to quickly copy competitors’ solutions for bettor needs

Tails
Strengths

  • Known to have the smartest betting algorithms

  • Strong existing subscriber base loyal to the product

  • Existing content team has over 100k followers through social platforms

Weaknesses

  • Existing tool framework is completely centered around data-driven betting tools

  • Organizational focus on data-driven tools can hinder rapid product iteration

Opportunities

  • Infinite scroll familiar to users

  • Better met expert needs can lead to quicker adoption

Threats

  • Tool switching costs

  • Non-compete clauses among experts

  • Free platforms such as X.com

  • Stronger resourced competitors moving quickly to solve pain points

Action Plan

  • Build on strengths: Tap into our existing user base and social content follower base to increase early adoption of the new product.

  • Address weaknesses: Establish efficient resource allocation to the new product to enable the team to build and iterate rapidly.

  • Capture opportunities: We should pursue building a social media-like content feed using established conventions that are proven to have high engagement. We should also offer vetted experts favorable contracts and a user experience that meets their most crucial needs.

  • Mitigate threats: To keep up with faster competitors, we need to launch early and often in order to gather feedback we can use to improve the product. We should explore a free content offering to get users risk free and then upsell them on more valuable premium content.

Design Approach

I approached the project as a two-sided marketplace, making sure each persona had tailored but connected experiences.

For Subscribers:

  • Easy discovery of experts through profiles and quick browsing and search functionality.

  • A clean subscription process with clear pricing.

  • Fast access to picks via notifications and an organized feed.

For Insiders:

  • Intuitive onboarding to create a profile and set subscription pricing.

  • Tools for publishing picks quickly and reliably.

  • A dashboard to manage subscribers, track revenue, and view performance.

The overarching design principle was clarity: subscribers needed confidence, and experts needed control.

As a strong starting point to get the product off the ground, we focused on building a solid foundation of core features to provide the MVP version of this product that we can iterate and build on top of. Below are those foundational core features:

  1. Pick Delivery & Presentation

  2. Subscription Flow

  3. Insider Onboarding & Setup

  4. Insider Profiles

  5. Posting Picks

  6. Insider Profile & Account Settings

User Flow Mapping

Now that we've decided on foundational core features, it was time to map out the user flows for each. Below is an example of the user flow for Insiders posting picks:

Wireframing

With user flows mapped out, I began to wireframe these foundational features to give us a solid starting point for fleshing out the designs.

Final Designs

After creating wireframes to facilitate stakeholder reviews and usability tests, we went through multiple rounds of rapid iteration to land on solutions that met user and stakeholder needs. Now it was time to finalize the designs for dev handoff.

Posting Picks

An easy-to-use feature that allowed Insiders to post content directly from OddsShopper's tools, or a completely custom post made up of a text field and imagery. They could apply these posts to individual packages or choose to make them a free post.

Picks Feed

A clear, familiar UI modeled after a typical social media feed. This allowed users to scroll through premium content as well as free content, with smart filters allowing them to find exactly what they were looking for.

Insider Profiles

Engaging profile pages that clearly laid out the offerings of each Insider with clear and concise pricing, ensuring there was full transparency into what the subscribers would be paying for.

Subscription Flow

A simple flow that made it easy for users to purchase a subscription to the Insider of their choosing. Offerings and pricing are clearly presented throughout the entire flow.

Takeaways

Designing Tails™ taught me the complexities of building for a two-sided marketplace. I learned how important it is to balance business goals with user trust — especially in industries where credibility is everything.

If I were to continue iterating, I’d explore adding community features that encourage interaction between experts and subscribers, as well as social sharing tools to help experts grow their audiences organically.

This case study highlights my ability to:

  • Solve for multiple user personas within one platform.

  • Prioritize trust and transparency in UX design.

  • Deliver practical tools that drive business growth.