Sports betting has undergone a lot of change. It’s come a long way since the days of either having to walk into a High Street shop, physically be at a racecourse, or make a telephone call to a bookie to place a bet. Now the bulk of wagering is done online.
Scan through sites, which provides valuable information about leading bookmakers, and you will see many options for getting online and betting. It is simply a massive industry that through technology has reached more punters than it ever could before.
What are the improvements that the modern way of sports betting has delivered? Also, what could the future developments be for soccer betting?
In-Play
Arguably the biggest revolution of the online betting world has been live betting. The arrival of this dynamic form of sports betting gave punters more options than they could ever dream of. Suddenly, gone was the limitation of betting only on pre-match markets.
In-play betting introduced live markets and odds, giving punters an entire suite of new betting options. It opened live sports fixtures up for closer examination and study by punters while a game was actually in action.
That in turn led to new betting strategies, and opportunities for bettors to hedge bets that they had placed pre-match on the same fixture. The integration of live statistics and being able to track games with graphics revolutionised football betting.
Mobile Apps
This is another of the biggest and best technological innovations for football betting. You can now have sportsbook access without ever having touched a computer. Dedicated apps provided by bookmakers make for a great user experience.
Secure betting apps sit on your phone so are readily available wherever you are. They can be opened with one tap and you’re into a full online betting experience. Every single feature that comes with a bookmaker’s main website should be there on the app.
Mobile betting apps are easy to download and are generally very light on user data as well. The drawback is needing a strong mobile connection for live betting, but even problems of connectivity have been minimalised with more cell towers and the arrival of 5G.
Live Streams
Along with live betting, live streams were also a big change to the bookmaker scene. Bookies recognised that showing live sports streams on their platforms would hook punters even further betting. Most UK bookmakers have free horse racing streams for example.
Live streams created a bet-and-watch scenario, where on one site, it became possible to stream a live sports fixture and have live in-play betting markets open for it at the same time. Streams have gotten faster and have improved in quality, covering a wider range of events like the Bundesliga, FA Cup and Serie A football.
More Choice of Markets and Bets
The technological advances in sports betting have also given rise to the opportunity for more markets and bet types for punters. The staples of High Street betting shops were pretty much football and horse racing. But drop by any of the leading betting sites and you will see every sport under the sun listed.
Naturally, for UK-facing bookmakers, things like the Premier League and Champions League football, plus horse-racing remain prominent. But fans of rugby, cricket, boxing, golf, snooker, darts, tennis, eSports and so much more, are easily able to find markets to suit their sporting preferences.
Bet types have also grown exponentially and it is not uncommon to see things like Bet Builders for same-game multis, Asian handicaps and even rapid bets which focus only on the result of the next point in a tennis match, or a five-minute period of a football match.
Features
With better devices, faster connections and the constant push by bookmakers to be innovative to attract new customers, features have been a big positive for football betting. Things like Cash Out, where bets can be settled early, the aforementioned live streams, the ability to request bets, bonuses and even social media interaction have further enhanced the football betting experience. More and more bookmakers are on the path to offer such features to their customers. To find those bookies which are offering them now, scan Match Center, a website that analyses betting sites, their offers and operation.
The Future of Football Betting
The overall impact of technology on football betting has been immeasurable. It’s almost inconceivable in this day and age, to think about what came before. The modern way of betting is quick, convenient, and stacked with variety.
But what may punters look forward to next? Technology is not going to slow up and that means the steady trickle of time should present new features for football betting. One of the biggest ones touted is VR.
While the full application of the technology is not certain, it could include a platform for bookmakers’ live streams, with the options for live in-play betting integrated into the viewing. A similar development could come with augmented reality.
It may be that with a scan of your phone’s camera, you can pull up betting markets to appear on your coffee table when you are sat in front of the TV watching the big Sunday afternoon Premier League match.
AI could play a big future role in football betting as well. With its ability to crunch stats and numbers, it could lead to a big advantage in the predictive analysis of upcoming games. There are, very likely, exciting times ahead.
