The origins of sports betting date back to Ancient Rome, where according to historians, bets were often placed on chariot races or gladiator fights. Since then, betting has transformed into a more practical, and available way to wager and make money by predicting the outcome of a race or sporting event.
The betting industry is growing rapidly in the past decade and experts predict that it will reach 59.530 million by 2026 which is almost 100% from what it is today. There are few reasons for this explosive growth.
First of all, thanks to technology, betting is becoming more available for the average user. Nowadays, there are 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide or almost 60% of the population. Additionally, sports betting is becoming easier to use since bettors don’t need to go to the closest bookmaker to make a wager.
Since the betting industry has grown substantially in the past years, what can we expect in the future?
Let’s find out more about technology trends that will shape the betting industry in the future.
Mobile Betting
This technology trend dates back decades ago, but it never found its place on the market until the pandemic outbreak where all bookmakers started adapting and optimizing their websites and apps for online betting.
Nowadays, smartphones are powerful enough to run complex apps that will improve the overall betting experience for the average user.
But the biggest reason why bookmakers want to transfer to the mobile betting market is the reason that more than 6.37 billion people or 80% of the population now own a smartphone.
Micro-Betting
Creating a betting app or a website enables bookmakers to create different forms of betting that will bring the excitement of every betting experience to another level. Since the micro gambling sector is growing rapidly (such as slots) where people can place small bets throughout the course of one game, bookmakers expect this to be a future trend.
Micro-betting or in-play gambling will allow bettors to put their money on many small details in a live event instead of betting on the winning team. You can actually already do that on the TwinSpires NBA sportsbook: edge.twinspires.com/nba/odds/
This might sound simple enough, but it is a true headache for the bookmakers. They need to accurately predict the odds of small wagers live and keep them updating throughout the game. Most betting companies use machine learning technologies and automation to generate different betting opportunities in seconds.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence or AI is a huge leap forward for the betting industry and they are still exploring its use in the everyday world. AI can bring many benefits for bookmakers and bettors since it will use data to accurately predict the outcome for every match or race.
This means that bookmakers will be able to create more accurate odds and increase their profits, and bettors will have higher win ratio thanks to the analyzed data that is beyond human reach.
AI will be the next big change in the gambling industry that will shift the entire sector in a different direction.
VR and AR
We’ve seen the potential of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technologies, and even though they are not ready at the moment, many experts predict that they will be used in many industries including betting.
Can you imagine booking a ticket for the Super Bowl or Formula 1 race and get a first-person view of a live event. You’ll be able to watch any sports match live with your VR headset and possibly make bets while you watch the game.
We expect more bookmakers to start broadcasting live events on their websites or apps or even give you exclusive first-person access to live events.
Conclusion
The betting industry is growing rapidly at the moment, and we can spot a change in people’s behavior when it comes to betting money. In the past, the main focus for every bettor was to make a profit, whereas now they are also considering the experience and want to have fun.
Such technologies can improve the overall betting experience, which will bring new customers to the market.
