It’s amazing how popular sports betting has become over the years, from the humble beginnings of bookies setting odds on horses to modern-day sports betting on international sports games. It’s been a wild ride.
It all began with the first bookie in Ancient Greece. Then, as countries became more developed and more focused on science and knowledge, the first bookies moved to the next level and started to set odds on who would win and how they would win.
There were many innovations over the years, such as the first parlay and multi-betting options, which now punters encounter on a daily basis in modern casinos such as netbet and many more.
When Did Sports Betting Become Legal?
Even though sports betting has been around for thousands of years, it hasn’t been regulated until the 20th century. Anyone with enough money could become a bookie and start accepting bets.
Sports betting wasn’t regulated anywhere until Nevada legalized it in 1949. Since then, many countries have accepted and legalized sports betting. Only 11 years later, the UK also applied regulations and legalized sports betting activities in the country.
Sports betting was made illegal on a federal level in the USA back in the 1990s. Nowadays, over 24 states and most countries have their own sports betting markets. It’s expected to see more states and countries legalize sports betting. Each country applies its preferred regulations on the market and promotes responsible gambling.
Global Sports Betting Statistics
As of 2020, the global sports betting market has reached over 200 billion USD. There are hundreds of thousands of employees who depend on gambling to receive their salaries.
Fortunately for the casino employees and all gamblers, the market keeps increasing. According to researches by Technavio, sports betting is expected to grow by over 140 billion from 2020 to 2025.
Leading Sports Betting Markets
It’s hard to identify the leading sports betting market as there are many of them operating internationally. While 4 of the top companies are based in Macao, one of them – Wynn Resorts, is based in the USA. In the meantime, two leading sports betting operators are located in the UK.
The market is unpredictable, and we can’t say for sure who the leader is. Especially as online sports betting is booming and any provider could become the best one in a matter of months. Overall the gambling revenue is calculated as a whole instead of separating sports betting and other casino options.
Europe
The EU sports betting market takes one of the most significant revenues. A large part of the sports betting wagers are accepted from Europe. But European bookmakers are competing with the USA market as sports betting has been legalized in over 24 states.
We’ve already entered the digital era, even when it comes to online casinos. The European sports betting market receives sustainable revenue due to the increasing number of online casinos and multiple expansions in the UK, Germany, France, and Spain. If you’re a punter from Europe, you should already be familiar with the most popular sports to wager – football and tennis.
USA
Sports betting in most parts of the USA hasn’t been legal until 2018. That’s the year all the states were given enough power to legalize sports betting upon demand. Given the fact that over 20 states have already legalized sports betting, it is highly likely that over 80% of the states will include legal sports betting options for their citizens.
Partnerships hold the whole market in the USA. For example, the major leagues sign multi-year sports betting deals to receive mutual benefits. But those mutual benefits also allow the punters from the USA to bet on their favorite teams and rejoice in their winnings twice!
Asia
As Asia is the biggest continent in the world, their gambling market takes first place. Over 4.5 billion people live in Asia, and their revenue surpasses 70 billion USD. The problem with sports betting in Asia is that every country has different regulations. Many countries don’t offer sports betting options on the continent.
Asia’s most significant gambling revenues come from China, Japa, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. The countries in Asia usually offer various sports betting options. Even though major sporting events take the first place, most of the local ones are also popular.
Innovative Digital Sports Betting
The gambling world has evolved and become mostly digital nowadays. Bookies are included in most online casinos, and the betting options are unlimited. According to statistics, if all states in the USA legalize sports betting, the gambling revenue could generate almost 20 billion USD per year.
With the daily new online casinos, sports betting has become accessible to everyone. Even people in countries where sports betting is illegal can bet through international bookmakers. Even though they don’t have permission to operate in those countries, there are also no legal bans.
Land-based casinos don’t receive the revenues they used to. Modern gambling platforms offer sports betting from your mobile device. You could be traveling and still betting on your favorite teams at the last minute.
Conclusion
Sports betting hasn’t been legalized all around the world yet, but it still receives enormous revenues. In the future, we expect to see a more gambling-friendly environment provided by all countries. And we’re slowly walking towards that.
Sports have been around for thousands of years, so have punters? The first bookmakers in Ancient Greece were just ordinary people with enough money to pay the winners. Now the most significant bookmakers offer hundreds of betting options with thousands of multipliers upon an unbelievable win.
