Online sports betting is a multi-billion industry. Fueled by increased legalization, strategic marketing and changing technology; the industry is expected to continue growing in double digits for the next five years.
Technology has been a particularly important pillar of the best bookmakers 2022. It has impacted nearly every aspect of betting, from the devices we use, how we choose bets to how we deposit.
Mobile Betting
If you’re like the majority of sports bettors in 2022, you bet on sports through your smartphone. Many people choose smartphones for betting because these devices are convenient, affordable and reliable.
Convenience, affordability and reliability are also the same reasons that inspired sportsbooks around the world to embrace mobile technology. You see, bookmakers are businesses.
And every business wants to increase its bottom line. Mobile technology helps sportsbooks grow their profits by exposing their brands to a larger audience. As mentioned, mobile sportsbooks are also pretty reliable.
Whether you want to bet on the Premier League, the NBA or India’s IPL, you can do it conveniently through your cell phone. What’s more, you can earn betting bonuses, deposit and cashout your profits hassle-free.
The best part of mobile betting in 2022 is that you don’t need to install an app. In 2015, you needed to download a betting app on your phone before you could gamble online.
That is no longer necessary in this age of HTML5. The programing technology allows developers to create websites that can run on multiple devices, from iOS to android. In doing so, sportsbooks no longer have to create separate apps for customers using different devices.
Intuitive Web Design
It is true— betting websites are easier to use now than ever before. There’s a perfect explanation: Intuitive web design. Put simply, intuitive web design aims to make sites as user-friendly as possible.
Let’s start with the looks. Professionally designed betting sites tend to be simple but beautiful. Then they are fast. Speed matters a lot. A slow website loses customers fast.
Another aspect of an intuitive betting site is its navigation features and filters. Things like multi-language support, and filters to search specific sports make a site friendlier to the user.
Intuitive websites also help create brands. If you visit 888 Sports, its colors, interface and images will look different compared to Bet365 or Unibet. It’s not just the hues. The entire designing of these websites is meant to help brands stand out from their competitors.
Live Betting
Live betting is one of the best things to have happened in online sports betting. Picture this. For a long time, you had to research, pick a side and place your bet before a game began. If you missed the deadline, you couldn’t bet.
Thanks to live betting, you can now wager on sports games as they happen. Let’s say Tampa Bay has a match against the Dallas Cowboys. After the game starts, you realize the Buccaneers are aggressive and well-coordinated.
You could log into your betting account and stake money on the Brady led team to win. To be clear, you are not limited to money line bets. You can also predict the total number of points or pick a specific player to score a touchdown.
The best bookmakers have a specific section for live bets. Here, you can view list of live matches you can wager on across multiple sports and leagues. In case you’re wondering, in-play betting is exciting. But odds fluctuate fast.
Banking and Withdrawals
In the early days of online betting, there were a few ways to deposit money. Visa, MasterCard and bank transfer were the most popular options. They had high fees, small limits and marred with delays.
Today, there’s a limitless list of payment options at betting sites. You can use credit/debit cards: Visa and MasterCard are still the preferred options. Or you can bank through one of dozens of e-wallets:
- PayPal
- Google Pay
- Skrill
- Neteller
- EcoPayz
- Boku
Digital wallets are faster, cheaper and more convenient than credit/debit cards. They are incredibly secure too. PayPal, for example, has a chargeback feature that protects you from fraud. It has another feature called One Touch that protects your data.
Many of the payment methods listed above also support mobile devices. And in doing so, they’ve been contributing to the fast growth of mobile betting.
Crypto & Blockchain
Crypto has been hitting the headlines for a few years. How is it impacting online betting? For starters, you can now deposit money to a ton of sportsbooks using Bitcoin and altcoins.
Not every betting site accepts crypto, though. If you love bitcoin and want to use it for deposits, find a crypto sportsbook. Also, ensure you understand the basics of buying and using crypto.
Another way crypto is affecting the sports betting industry is through blockchain technology. Blockchain is decentralized, secure and immutable. Due to that, it helps developers create trust-free betting sites.
To expound more, trust-free sportsbooks use blockchain’s smart contracts to create unique betting apps. Here, you place your bet. But your money is held in the smart corrects until a game’s outcome has been determined.
If you win, the smart contracts release your profits. If you lose, the money goes to the sportsbook. This way, you don’t need to worry about getting scammed by fraudulent sportsbooks.
Sports Odds and Streaming
When you think about it, sports betting can’t exist without odds. People need odds to determine whether bets are worth it and who to bet on. Betting sites work with experienced odds-makers and computer algorithms to set odds.
The best bookmakers have competitive odds for all sports and games. This helps attract a high number of punters, which results in bigger profits.
Odds-making aside, another technology impacting the betting industry is live streaming. Some sportsbooks offer free streaming for popular sports games. The only catch is that you must be one of their active customers.
Conclusion
Online sports betting exists because of technology, from mobile betting to mobile banking. Without innovation, online betting would probably have already collapsed by now. Instead, it’s thriving and growing fast.
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