The sports betting industry continues to grow each year. Today, it is worth over 200 billion US dollars. It is also estimated that there are over 31 thousand registered businesses within this industry. These numbers are only expected to go up as the industry gets bigger and better.
While 2020 has been tough for the industry because of the pandemic, 2021 and the coming years are looking brighter. Sports events are back and we can expect sportsbooks to have plenty of odds to offer. Although many sports events are still close to the public, people are still willing to wager on their favorite sports.
Plenty of sports events are already lined up this year including the English Premier League, the NBA, and the Indian Premier League. People are already looking for the best IPL betting sites in India and other sports betting sites in their locations.
As the sports betting industry gets bigger, trends are arising and the services are becoming better. If you’re a punter or are simply looking forward to seeing what the sportsbooks have instore for you, here are the trends to look forward to and what the future holds for the industry.
Mobile Betting
People are starting to get into mobile betting more and more and this is mainly because of convenience. While it’s still easy to place bets online with a laptop or PC, using a smartphone or tablet is much simpler. This also gives the punters a chance to place bets anywhere they are and anytime they want.
There are also cases wherein sports betting is not legal in an entire country that punters have to go to a different state or province to place their bets. An example is the United States where only around 20 states have legal online betting.
In New York, only in-person betting is allowed for the locals and many of them would rather place bets on their mobile devices. There have been reports that New Yorkers would ride the train to New Jersey to be able to place their bets with their smartphones. It is legal to place online wagers in New Jersey and people can only access legal local betting sites within the borders of this state.
Since the use of mobile devices is becoming the more preferred way for punters to place their bets online, betting companies are also starting to release their native apps. There is tough competition between betting companies when it comes to the betting app features that they have for their customers.
Today, there are betting apps that let you keep track of the latest updates on your favorite sports. Live streaming is also one of the features that some apps have. Most of the released betting apps also let you play fun casino games like slots, blackjack, and poker.
Live Betting
Technology has made live betting possible and experienced punters are the ones who are usually showing interest in this type of betting. Also called in-game or in-play betting, this way of placing bets allows you to wager on odds that are only offered as the game or match is progressing.
When live betting on matches, decisiveness is important. Odds for this are usually only available for a few seconds. This is why you should be experienced in betting on a certain sport before trying this.
Today, this has become so popular that many online bookies now offer this. A few years ago, this was only offered by a few bookies as this wasn’t as popular as it is today. Since many people are now at home during live matches because of COVID 19 protocols, this will likely be more common this year.
Cryptocurrency Gambling
Betting with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and many more is also becoming popular. This is especially today when the value of Bitcoin is making quite a noise. It has been around 2 years ago when Bitcoin’s value has peaked and now that it has surpassed its highest value in 2017, more people are taking interest in cryptocurrencies.
One of the popular ways that crypto users spend their digital currency is through gambling. Today, there are now many online casinos and bookies that accept Bitcoin. There are even Bitcoin casinos that specifically cater to cryptocurrency users.
E-Sports
E-sports is still in its infancy in the betting market. Last year was when this sector gained more attention as many major sports events had to be canceled or postponed. Sportsbooks had to find other events for people to wager on and many e-sports tournaments were still able to push through despite the lockdowns.
The pandemic somehow boosted the popularity of esports and it is expected that the next few years will be great for this market. People are now taking e-sports seriously because of the tournament prize pools. Last year, DOTA 2 tournament had a prize pool of around 35 million US dollars.
