Sports betting - from the field to the smartphone
17 Aug 2018 | Fredrik Pålsson
In about thirty years, sports betting moved away from betting shops and nested comfortably inside our phones.
At present,
there are hundreds of online sportsbooks, with each site receiving an enviable
number of visitors a day. Back in the 1980s, however, if a person wanted to put
money on their favourite team, they had to go to a betting shop for the
purpose. Apart from inconvenient, the betting shops of old did not feature any
bonuses and promotions, and the odds were far from appealing, too.
When we look at
today’s sports betting industry, we can see that it has evolved greatly. In
this article, 100BettingSites.com will focus on the evolution
of the sports betting industry and try to explain how sports betting has
changed since it went mobile.
The technology that allowed for a change
Before focusing
our attention on the evolution of sports betting, we would like to point your
attention to the technology that made this evolution possible.
Computer and
Internet technology, which developed throughout the 1990s, paved the way for an
unparalleled expansion of the sports betting industry. Thanks to those, by the
end of the 1990s we could not only visit any of the 10,000 betting shops on UK
land to wager, but we could also do it via the Web, too.
Desktop sports
betting continued to develop in the early 2000s, but by 2010 technology was
advanced enough to put the foundation for another step in the evolution of
sports betting – mobile sports betting was on the way. Once smartphone
technology developed completely, bookmakers were among the first to utilise
mobiles in order to expand and popularise their business. From 2010 onwards, it
seemed that everyone is gambling on their phones. Even statistics testify to
the popularity of mobile betting – back in 2016, mobile gambling surpassed
desktop and land-based gambling in revenues.
From betting shops to desktops
As we mentioned,
the online sports betting industry was established by
the end of the 20th century. At that time, however, neither
computers were powerful (and popular) enough, nor were internet speeds fast.
Naturally, online sports betting did not enjoy much popularity in the early
days of its inception.
When computers
became more popular and internet speeds evolved, online sports betting reached
its golden age. Not only could punters bet on sports more easily and
conveniently than ever before, but operators could for the first time post
updates quickly. As operators developed and improved their online sportsbooks,
included more sports to the market and started accepting a wide range of
payment methods, they created the sports betting industry of today.
By 2005, online
sports betting had grown to a lucrative global industry, generating more than
$100 billion in wagers every year.
Mobile revolution
Even though it
underwent significant popularisation in the early 2000s, online sports betting
truly flourished only when it went mobile.
Apple introduced iPhone in 2007 – this device could
connect to the web and use a number of applications. The iPhone represented a
whole new way to perceive content and bookmakers quickly adapted their sites to
fit the smaller and more compact displays of the mobile.
When sports
betting went mobile, things really changed. Now, punters could gamble from
virtually anywhere and all they needed was a mobile device and connection to
the internet. Sports betting fans gambled while travelling to work, on their
lunch break, before going to bed, etc. Of course, revenues responded
accordingly, and the mobile gambling quickly became more and more dominant in
the industry.
Sports betting trends
Having
understood how sports betting became one of the many industries to take
advantage of technological advancement, we can now pay attention to some trends
within the industry.
We have seen
that sports betting has grown to become one of the world’s most lucrative
industries. And, despite that some experts predicted a decline in the revenues,
generated by online sports betting, the industry shows no signs of slowing
down. As a matter of fact, the sports betting market is predicted to generate
as much as $125 billion by 2022.
Not only has the
industry grown, but the number of sports we bet on has increased as well.
According to analysts, football is still the most popular sport to bet on, and
it is likely to remain on top in the next few years. Betting on horses, on
basketball and on combat sports are also popular among punters. Nevertheless,
one emerging category of sports has become increasingly popular among bettors –
e-Sports.
Finally,
arguably the biggest change that emerged after sports betting turned mobile is
the bonus system. There were no bonuses and promotions back when sports betting
was reserved to betting shops. But once the industry went on the web, and
especially after it went mobile, bonuses and promotions became an integral part
of every reputable bookmaker.