If you've somehow missed the news that Opta have changed some of their positions for players on Football Index, it was noticed today, initially that Joshua Kimmich had moved from a Defender to a Midfielder, subsequently plummeting to around £1.99 from roughly £2.65. If you've not seen the changes, check them out here. The whole community has the topic hot on their lips, but here is what our roundtable made of it all now the dust has settled a little:
IW
It's ridiculously unfair on traders who weren't online at the time of the change. Fi need to take steps to avoid this happening again in the future.
Frosties
Whilst I have benefited from the changes, surely you cannot place your bet based on certain parameters only for them to be changed with no warning. Market confidence is a precious thing!
Chris
I've seen the positive & negative side of this. You could say it was ok 12 months ago, when the market was smaller but the index has grown so much now, that this needs rectifying as it affects our bets.
Ash
I agree it's very unfair, as I said I just feel very lucky in a way I was online at the time. Any major changes like this need to be announced by FI much like the recent SS
DesiBallers
You could say FI did not know about this change, although if they are using a third party for the positional changes which affects the prices so much, what's the use of trusting FI with our money? Shouldn't they be on top of things?
Nick S
I think it's tough on FI this one, they are going to get it in the neck, and in a way rightly so, as they can do things to mitigate against this. But it appears like this was spotted first by traders and I don't think you can expect Opta to notify their customers, 99% of their clients wont be affected by positional changes.
Surely the simple thing here is to set their positions by Opta at the start of the season, stop the feed for positions, and then re-do it again at the start of the next season? With an announcement of some degree?
Chris
I like that idea Nick.
MDJ
Ok so I’m at work and without a nudge I would’ve had no clue what had happened. Luckily I didn’t have any players who would be adversely affected. But I did want to jump on the players who would benefit from the change.
Back to the question - I think we should at least be told when the changes are likely to take place. I understand that FI aren’t responsible for this but surely Opta must tell them the date that the changes will be implemented? That would at least give us the heads up to consider what changes might be coming and some time to restructure.
MDJ
For example, we could have predicted the Kimmich change and made sure we were out in time.
TC
I don’t think you could’ve predicted Kimmich given how often he’s played as a defender this season.
MDJ
Confidence is everything on a platform like this and the level of sell off we’re seeing suggests that’s been damaged a little today, which is worrying. Hopefully they can learn something and change things next time around?
DanJ
Must admit i’m getting pretty fucked off with FI. If they knew this was coming and didn't mention it then it really stinks.
They didnt mention the betting rule-change around proof of address. Can’t pay dividends right, sell queue fucked, prices not right.
They are going to massively spook the market if they don’t keep people informed properly.
Nick S
100% agree with this, I'm giving them so leeway on the Opta stuff though. I reckon traders knew before they did about these changes.
Really, they need to work with Opta to get a prior notification before Opta change their positions. 99% of Opta customers it wont matter to. So I can't imagine they notify people
Thankfully, some did see this coming... 😉
SamF
I've never been more angry with them. If they want their product to only be for people who can spend 24/7 on here then they're really limiting their customers.
Looks like a general sell off now. Wonder if some people are selling up?
Then the response from Football Index Account Manager, Dan.
Frosties
It would make zero difference? Give over! At least people could monitor changes and have a fair chance of dumping/buying players.
Nick S
I still find it intriguing that the blame is being put firmly at FI's door here. In this very scenario, with what they have in place at the moment, I don't see what they could've done differently (before it happened, comms straight after, shite again).
What they do to avoid this going forward (or should've done already) is up for debate to stop it happening again, but I have some sympathy with them in the first instance.
Chris
Yep same Nick, but it’s about what they decide to do to stop it going forward.
Tetleys
The question is; did FI know about this beforehand, yes or no?
If it's a yes, then I've no sympathy for them. If it's a no, then I've a bit more sympathy for them.
But to say 'this is the fairest way of doing it' smacks of arrogance and lack of empathy. It's not fair that someone loses money based on something not football related that is within the control of FI.
SamF
I'm angry because of the randomness. If Kimmich actually was a midfielder (or Hazard) then I could have built in some risk around this happening. But it's nonsense. Change Zinchenko or Guerriro and I understand, even if the process could be better.
There has to be a rationale that could be predictable, and a bit of communication. That's all I ask.
WengerKnew
That’s what I think they can address, Sam. If they agree with Opta to fix the positions on the Index for the duration of the season, then have an agreed date for positional updates, they can then do an announcement to the community at a set time and suspend the market.
Tetleys
All they have to do now is issue a comms saying 'we appreciate the situation that we have found ourselves in today. We will review the tweets and speak internally and externally to ensure a process is put in place to avoid this happening in the future'.
To turn around when not only people are losing money by the minute and confidence is whacked and say 'ah, but the T&C's state this....blah blah blah' and 'this is the fairest way to do it' just isn't right.
WengerKnew
Obviously everyone losing money is pissed off, but the moaning over a known game rule is a bit much, and I'm a lot down!
Tetleys
Again, I'm not moaning over the rules, I'm moaning over their comms.
Nick S
It comes down to what Tetleys was saying earlier for me, did they know Opta were changing positions or not? If they didn't, fair enough (handled badly afterwards) if they did then there is a case to answer in terms of why they didn't inform anyone in advance.
But I also agree that these things get overblown somewhat in the communities. Natural in these places, big swings either way, negative or positive.
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It's clear to see the market has reacted with what they thought. What do you make of it? What could FI have done better? Do you have any sympathy with them? Is this something they need to address going forward? Let us know @_FIBT on Twitter.