The sports betting industry has often been criticised for lacking ground-breaking innovation. However, the reality is quite theopposite. In recent times, the landscape of sports betting has transformed; offering players an entirely different experiencecompared to the past when few pre-live betting markets, referring purely to final score or half-time, were available. Leadingbookmakers now provide a vast array of betting options through their apps, with players presented with hundreds of markets tochoose from, for a wide variety of different sports.
This diversity in the offering has emerged due to the insatiable demands of modern players, who seek continuous engagement at a granular level of the sports events they are watching. Bet builders, also known as same-game parlays in the US and North American markets, have been a pivotal development in this sense, allowing players to place multiples of their favourite matches, teams and players rather than creating multiples over matches they lack knowledge of.
The growth of bet builders can be attributed to the evolving nature of betting and the preferences of the modern player. In fact, many are of the opinion that we are assisting the casino-fication of sports betting, with modern day fast betting products seeking to address and replicate the quick gratification that many casino players seek in slots.
With people increasingly seeking instant gratification and faster payouts, bet builders provide an opportunity to cheer on multiple selections within one game, enhancing excitement and entertainment. Moreover, with the rising availability of TV andstreaming coverage, placing a bet-on-bet builder also gives the feeling of being actively involved in the action.
Growth of bet builders can be attributed to the evolving nature of betting and the preferences of the modern player
While live bet builders have already expanded in-play betting options, micro-betting and fast markets are nowadays becomingdifficult to ignore. Although Europe has already been familiar with minute markets for soccer and winner of the next point in tennis for quite some time, the US market is now catching up in this aspect. The popularity of platforms like TikTok, Instagram reels and YouTube shorts, where people consume and engage with content quickly, reflects the potential for micro-betting and fast markets to become the fastest-growing segments of sports betting in the coming years.
The appeal of wagering on play-by-play action lies in its ability to capitalise on instant gratification. As a result, more popularAmerican sports like baseball and American football are better suited to microbetting compared to soccer. In the US, bettors can place wagers on short-lifecycle markets like the next drive’s outcome or the speed of the next pitch, owing to the relatively slow-moving nature of sports like NFL, where a match can take around three hours and more to finish. This style of betting is likely to thrive in the US due to its compatibility with the flow of American sports, creating additional markets at every break in-play.
The challenge with in-play betting, including microbetting, is to align the odds with what customers are watching on their TV ormobile devices. Real-time streaming and improved live match trackers have revolutionised the experience, allowing fans andbettors to witness sports events in real-time and access a wealth of data-driven insights. Advanced analytics and real-time statistics are readily available, providing bettors with valuable information to analyse and make informed decisions during theevent. Having said this, one can easily come to the conclusion that the sports betting industry has seen remarkable innovations,offering players an extensive range of betting options and experiences. Bet builders, microbetting and fast markets haveemerged as significant developments, catering to the evolving demands of modern players who seek continuous engagementand instant rewards. With technology continuing to advance, the industry is likely to witness even more exciting changes in thefuture. Additionally real-time streaming and data-driven insights have added a new dimension to in-play betting, providing valuable information to bettors, ultimately enhancing their overall experience.
