BetSaracen's seamless migration from legacy geo-compliance to Radar

The company

BetSaracen operates the leading online sportsbook in Arkansas, with tens of thousands of monthly active users and over 100,000 registered accounts, holding 57% of the state's online market. In a state without professional sports teams, BetSaracen built a sportsbook tailored to Arkansas's passionate college sports fanbase, proving that local operators can compete with national brands.
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The challenge

Despite their market leadership, BetSaracen faced mounting issues with their previous geo-compliance vendor. A per-transaction pricing model led to unpredictable costs that scaled poorly. Unoptimized location checks inflated their bills, with no way to control or reduce the inefficiencies.

Support was an even bigger pain point. After implementation, it took 18 months just to reach acceptable performance. Response times dragged on for days or even weeks. Reporting was one-size-fits-all, and customization requests went unanswered.

“Without geolocation, we do not have a sportsbook,“ said Neal Atkinson, Senior Director of Tables and Sportbook Operations at BetSaracen. "It's mission-critical, yet we felt taken advantage of — constantly billed for location checks we didn't need. We needed a partner who would help us optimize, not just process checks."

BetSaracen knew their existing setup wouldn't scale. They needed predictable costs, stronger fraud detection, and a partner who could support long-term growth.
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The solution

BetSaracen migrated to Radar for fraud detection and geo-compliance, driven by three priorities: predictable monthly active user pricing, developer-friendly APIs, and a true partner invested in their success.

The migration validated their decision. What took 18 months to optimize with their previous provider took just three months with Radar.

“It was the best vendor integration I've seen,“ said Neal. “My team, from compliance to our third-party platform provider, all said they'd never seen a vendor be more on top of their game for a product launch.“

Radar's high-touch engagement transformed how BetSaracen approached geo-compliance. Weekly strategy calls with executives and daily technical check-ins replaced slow, impersonal support tickets. Slack messages received real-time responses. When BetSaracen requested features, Radar delivered them quickly, often within a week. Beyond just fulfilling requests, Radar proactively shared best practices and enhancements proven successful with other operators.

The technical capabilities also raised the bar. BetSaracen created custom geofences around high schools, prisons, and other exclusion zones to flag underage betting and suspicious activity. They use Radar's dashboard to access device data, location history, and other signals, helping them detect proxy betting and investigate potential fraud rings.

The results

The switch to Radar delivered immediate operational and financial benefits. BetSaracen now saves six figures annually thanks to Radar's MTU pricing, all while collecting more location data to improve fraud detection and compliance.

BetSaracen gained the confidence to innovate. They're now implementing a hybrid approach: one product that works statewide and another that requires on-premise geolocation. Their previous provider couldn’t support this kind of flexibility. Radar’s MTU pricing model means they can test new features and collect more data without worrying about spiraling costs.

“I don't lose sleep at night anymore,“ says Atkinson. “I'm not biting my fingernails to see if I've had 100,000 over calls last month and my bill has doubled at what my budget is. Now I know where I'm at, and we're able to scale properly.“

Looking ahead

BetSaracen has expanded beyond compliance use cases, implementing address autocomplete to reduce friction during account signup. They're now exploring location-based messaging to reach customers when they're on-property at the casino and to power more targeted campaigns.