The global sports betting market is huge! In 2022, it was valued at $83bn and is continuing to grow. This growth has seen it become less of a casual pastime and more of an economic driver. This has all led to the development of a multi-faceted and complex relationship with the sports industry. Wide legalization has boosted fan engagement and revenue, but it is also dragging some negative effects along.
Let’s take a look at all of them and see the full image of how betting is increasingly changing sports at a global level!
No other industry has penetrated sports quite like betting has. It has opened new possibilities, increased revenue streams and partnership opportunities. Major league clubs are now signing more betting sponsors than ever. If we take a look at the Premier League, which is the biggest European national soccer competition, 60% of the clubs have betting companies among their sponsors.
The current trends all point to the growing popularity of betting in sports, which in turn will see even more clubs following in similar footsteps.
Previously, betting on sports involved physical bookmakers and cash transactions. With the rise of online betting platforms, this has largely shifted the way we’re wagering these days. First, we had traditional payment options like card or bank transactions or PayPal, but these days, crypto is gaining traction and is bringing even more players to the fore!
Crypto allows players to make instant payments, eliminating bank delays and high transaction fees. Plus, it has also added to the reputation of online betting platforms as crypto transactions will be available only on the most secure platforms. This game of prestige has spilled over into sports too, with clubs being open to the entire crypto game and sponsorships.
Taking it a step further, some European soccer clubs have even issued their own crypto coins and virtual player trades, increasingly allowing their fans to take ownership in the club’s shares!
Fans are now more involved than ever, and it's all thanks to sports betting. Nowadays, betting platforms don’t just allow you to wager on game outcomes, but you can actually stream the event live and place bets live or even place micro bets on things like points scored, goals scored, penalties, player statistics and many others!
This boosted engagement and involvement leads to increased view rates, more merchandise and tickets being sold! Happy club owners are practically praising this god-sent industry, which is boosting club revenue left and right.
The introduction of crypto betting has further boosted fan engagement. Crypto enables faster wagers, and presents a many new ways that platforms can reward their players, including tokenized awards and incentives.
It’s not only the sports industry that’s winning in this game. Governments are also biting into the financial cake that online sports betting creates. In 2022 alone, the US government collected $1.5bn in sports betting tax money.
Due to the popularity of certain sports and existing base of worldwide fans, major brands outside sports are now using popular stable coins hoping they can jump onto the bandwagon.
It seems everyone is having a great time thanks to this booming industry — or are they?
Not everything connected to sports betting is all rainbows and flowers. With the increase in popularity, many operators do business in legal grey areas and governments are having a tough time enforcing compliance and taxation with decentralized betting platforms.
Add to this that not everything relating to crypto transactions is completely bulletproof, as some bad actors are taking advantage of crypto anonymity to fix matches.
With sports betting being a huge factor in sports today, we also need to touch upon the vulnerability of certain groups that can’t keep their betting in check. An increase in platforms that offer fast payments processing often leaves people betting away their budgets faster than ever, and results in a larger number of people falling into the pitfall of becoming addicted. This raises important questions that will need answers in the future.
Governments will need to find a way to deal with shady platforms that don’t promote responsible gambling and the clubs will have to keep an eye on who they do business with in the sponsorships department.
It’s almost certain that we’ll see these trends growing even more in the years to come, as sports betting isn’t likely to go away any time soon. Both the big players in sports and governments have benefitted too much to just ban it all and prohibit sports gambling.
It’s important to always check platforms like WSN.com, especially if you’re from the state, and are looking for sports betting news and legal sportsbooks in New Jersey. Sites such as these offer insights into the industry and keep curated lists of the best legal betting sites These review sites also offer some great insight into smart betting, and you can even stumble upon some great deals if you’re from NJ and thinking about opening an account on one of the sports betting platforms.
As a responsible player, you should aim to keep away from dodgy platforms and only ever gamble with funds you can afford to lose. Never wager more than you have allocated for the month and you’ll probably keep your gambling on the safe and fun side!
