Sports betting is a dynamic multi-billion-dollar market. Quick to embrace technology, the sector has grown from a niche market to a mainstream landscape, with celebrity endorsements, TV deals, and a wide consumer base. Sports betting will continue to grow in 2024. From innovative technologies to new regulatory frameworks, we should see the sector transform even further with positive results. Here is a review of some of the trends that may drive this transformation.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Integration
AI has completely reshaped the online gambling landscape, completely changing how players interact with online casinos and betting platforms. In 2024, providers continue to integrate the technology into their processes, with key applications in personalization and data analytics. AI data analysis allows sportsbooks to understand player interests, historical choices, and risk profiles and tailor their odds, ads, and insights to them. Players thus enjoy more customized experiences than before.
In data analysis, AI draws on the same powers of analytics and predictive modeling to produce well-informed odds at Malawi betting predictions. AI programs run extensive data sets, analyzing player statistics, team injuries, managerial changes, weather, historical outcomes, and other details to generate more accurate predictions. This enhances the quality of bets a bettor makes significantly.
Platform Universality
The sports betting sector is inseparable from the online casino sector. Many people who like online poker also enjoy betting on a game or two. As such, many providers are moving toward multi-purpose platforms where players can access sports betting services alongside popular casino games. Platforms like Betway use this module and have been highly successful.
Platform universality could also transform the sportsbook landscape so that oddsmakers feature more than popular sports like soccer, football, and rugby. Some providers have already started to include unique games like sumo wrestling, mountain unicycling, motorsports, and ice hockey in their sportsbooks. These niche markets open up the sector to a wider consumer base.
Multicurrency Platforms
Early sports betting platforms allowed transactions exclusively in dollars and other major currencies. The insistence on major fiat currencies initially shut out many bettors, specifically those in remote areas where the currencies offered little utility. The industry has made moves to include more currencies in its repertoire and create multicurrency platforms that allow bettors to transact in their home currency. Consequently, Malawians, for instance, can enjoy betting without needing to convert currency. Providers are also adopting decentralized payments like crypto for more universality.
VR and AR
Like AI, VR, and AR continue to improve the betting experience, in this case, by enhancing immersion. VR helps create fully immersive environments where, with the help of a headset, players can be transported into a virtual world. VR has taken root in online gaming and casinos, with some games specifically designed for the 3D environment. In sports betting, VR is making an appearance in live betting, allowing bettors to experience games in real-time and as if they were in the stadium.
Meanwhile, AR complements these capabilities by overlaying data and statistics onto the real or virtual world so players can consider data sets as they are produced. Players can either “go into” the game or receive real-time statistics overlaid on their screens as they watch a game. This combination of visual input allows bettors to better visualize what the statistics mean more than just looking at numbers on a screen.
Omnichannel Betting
Mobile betting revolutionized the sports betting landscape, transferring power from bookies and traditional oddsmakers to bettors. And the sector has been hugely successful, raking in the lion’s share of the industry’s revenue. Yet, with sports betting and especially live betting, there is no denying the benefit of a big screen. This is why omnichannel betting will come to the forefront in 2024. With dedicated apps and platforms, providers will continue to enable bettors to move from one screen to the next seamlessly and even spread their tables and watch windows across different devices.
Betting Automation
AI technology is doing more than improving data analytics in sports betting. For people who don’t enjoy analysis, evaluating odds and hundreds of data points to make an informed bet can be tedious. AI-powered automated betting is set to be a big trend in 2024 and will allow betters to spend less time analyzing games and poring over statistics. The idea is that a designated bot analyses all pertinent data and makes bets for you based on your risk profile, previous bets, budget, current account balance, and more. The result is that you can relax and enjoy your games more while still making informed bets.
Live and In-Play Betting
Speaking of staying in the moment, live and in-play betting have gained popularity since their introduction a few years ago. Platforms like Betway use different technologies, including streaming, to deliver odds, fixtures, and other data points to you in real time as a game is being played. This means you do not have to place your bet at the beginning of the game and can change your bet in real time as events unfold on the field. Similarly, you are not limited to a win-lose bet. You can wager on how many minutes of injury time the teams will get, which player will score third, and more.
Increased Regulation
The direct implication of all these modern trends is that the sports betting industry will continue to grow. The indirect result is the increased exposure of betters to unscrupulous players. Consequently, regulatory frameworks will grow in tandem with the industry, specifically to protect player interests, address ethical concerns, deter fraud, and mitigate gambling risks.
Both the UK and the US will see significant changes to their regulatory frameworks. In the latter, it is difficult to predict the direction the industry will take as regulation is governed on the state level. In the UK, however, stakeholders are expected to implement key measures, such as establishing an independent office for the gambling ombudsman, stake limit consultations, and affordability checks.
Wrapping Up
With trends such as these at the industry’s helm, sports betting is poised for continued growth in 2024. We should see stakeholders like Betway venture into previously untapped markets so that the sector can gain more mainstream appeal. Many of these changes will be driven by AI, VR, AR, 5G internet, and similar technologies that are streamlining live betting, odd prediction, bet placement, and more.