Things to Know About the Future of Sports Gambling

It’s been around for thousands of years (beginning in ancient Greece), but the last 20 years have seen sports gambling grow exponentially. As legalization becomes the norm in most U.S. states, what previously was inaccessible is now commonplace for millions of sports fans.

Moving forward, it’s hard to imagine the possibilities for the sports betting industry. Sportsbooks in stadiums? Full federal legalization? Who knows where the ball will stop.

In this article, I’ll explore what the future of sports gambling could look like and explain what that means for everyone involved in it.

Micro Betting, Big Bucks

You know about futures betting, live betting, moneyline betting, totals betting…you get the idea. Now, there’s a new kid on the block that is looking like he might take a chunk out of the more traditional forms of action placed on a game: micro betting.

I had never heard of micro betting until doing research for this article. The good news is that it’s much easier to understand that I had initially feared. Micro betting is simply gambling on short-term events. If you’re thinking that sounds like live betting quarters, it’s much shorter than that.

As exciting as this type of betting might sound, there are a few limitations that must be accounted for in order to make it work successfully. First, it’s going to be critical that live TV broadcast tape delays don’t impact the timing of the bet offerings. Second, gamblers must be locked in to the live event or risk missing out on potential wins.

It’s still in its infancy, but micro betting has exciting potential for the fast-paced world of sports gambling.

Peer-to-Peer Betting Is Creating New Markets

Many sports bettors began their gambling careers by betting amongst friends. Many experts in the industry believe that this “peer-to-peer” style of gambling is going to make a comeback in the relatively near future. But it’s not quite THAT SIMPLE.

The issue that has been preventing these exchanges is a piece of legislation from 1961: The Wire Act. This law states that it’s illegal to pass money across state lines for the purposes of gambling. In many ways, this act is the main obstacle to widespread legalization that doesn’t relegate betting legality to some states and not others.

When I say peer-to-peer betting, I’m not necessarily just talking about betting with your buddies. Rather this form of gambling essentially means that all bettors (from dozens to millions) have their wagers in the same “pool” and get paid out from this pool. The sportsbook is therefore less like a casino, and more like a third-party that exists to facilitate the action.

Esports Is Growing

If I told you 25 years ago that the future of sports betting would involve putting your hard-earned money on other people playing videogames, it probably would have sounded like a joke. However, the future has arrived, and that’s exactly what is happening.

It’s not really a surprise to state that betting on Esports is growing in popularity, but what is a bit shocking is how big it is for betting markets currently. Recent estimates have speculated that the amount of money bet on Esports will top $15 billion (with a “b”) in 2021.

The growth hasn’t come without concerns. First and foremost, the age of the participants (often minors) has raised some eyebrows. Second, the inherent nature of videogames makes it susceptible to match-fixing.

It’s too early to make a definitive call on what betting markets for Esports will look like in years to come, but expect it to stick around in a big way in the future.

Head to Head Gaming Is Coming

This one might sound like Esports, but there’s a key difference from the previous section: Esports betting indicates that gamblers place a bet similar to betting on traditional sports, meaning they don’t play a role in the outcome. The form of betting I’m referring to here involves two people playing against each other with money on the line.

To be sure, this is going to take some work on the part of gaming companies to develop a platform where these transactions are safe, and most importantly, fair.

These obstacles are undoubtedly going to slow down the progress of this type of betting going mainstream, but it’s looking like the future of gambling will have head-to-head videogame betting as an option.

The Computers Are Coming

When you think about it, it’s rational to believe that because computers can process massive amounts of data better than humans can, they’d be better at betting on sports. While I won’t get into the argument about what the goal of sports betting really is (entertainment vs. making real money), it’s looking like the future of gambling will involve some type of digital element to help make predictions.

This type of thing can already be observed on a number of different websites around the internet today. You’ve likely encountered the:

“Pay X amount to view the model which has predicted college football outcomes at a 60% success rate!” type of sites already.

While it may be an inevitability, allow me to voice my displeasure on the subject for just a second (or rather, a sentence). All gambling, but sports gambling in particular, is meant to be entertainment. The stock market is for making money. If you take the human element out of sports betting, you’re going to be angry when you lose (because you didn’t make the pick) and unsatisfied when you win (for the same reason).

At the end of the day, even if the models do become widely available, I recommend making the bets based on your own research and intuition…call me old fashioned.

Financial Productization

As I mentioned in the previous section, I don’t love the idea of removing the fun from real money sports betting in the name of profit. But such is progress, I suppose.

One of the most intriguing areas of the sports betting industry involves turning sports bets into real investments. They might not look like the traditional stock portfolios on the internet today, but many financial companies are looking into building models that you sports betting, rather than financial markets, as a way to make money in the long-term.

It’s too early to say exactly what these will look like, but many in the industry believe they will look, feel, and function more like investment platforms than sportsbooks.

The Gambl-ification of Things

Betting on videogames might not seem like such a stretch from betting on traditional sports. However, some industry insiders are expecting a phenomenon they’re calling “hobby gamification.” Though it’s an innocent-enough sounding name, what it really means is “hobby gambl-ification.”

The idea here is that regular people can raise the stakes on the exercises they’re already doing by putting a wager on it.

The possibilities within this market are nearly endless. All that’s required is a system to facilitate the wagers and two willing parties looking to compete for the prize.

Conclusion

Much like the prohibition of alcohol earlier in our nation’s history, it’s likely that in the future, people will forget that sports betting used to illegal in the U.S.

Where there’s a market there’s a business, and where there’s a business there is the government looking to take their cut in the name of “regulation.” Optimistically, I look forward to exploring new opportunities provided by the growing sports betting industry.

Nobody knows what the future will hold, but without question, the industry’s next 20 years will look nothing like the previous 20 years. And perhaps that’s a good thing.