Sports Betting, A 100B Dollar Industry

The popularity of sports betting continues to soar worldwide. It's one of the industries with the quickest growth rates, and it has enormous potential for both sportsbooks and bettors. The sports betting sector is still undergoing rapid changes, expanding in already-established markets and forcing its way into new ones as the digital revolution gathers steam.

This article will outline the overall size of the global sports betting business, look at some predictions for its future expansion, and attempt to identify the key factors behind this quick market growth.

How Big of a Market is Sports Betting?

It's vital to understand that due to uneven rules and record-keeping, it is challenging to assess the overall size of the sports betting market. There isn't a single resource that researchers can rely on completely across national boundaries. Records are too scattered for a complete picture to be drawn.

Nevertheless, this does not imply that there are no trustworthy estimates. Market capitalization for international sports betting is thought to exceed $100 billion. Licensed online sportsbooks (like the ones we analyze) generate upwards of $39.7 billion of this revenue, according to Statista, a well-known data provider.

The remaining sports wagers are placed in places like casinos, racetracks, or other international locations.

The United Kingdom Has The Fastest-growing Sports Betting Market

The sports betting market was worth $20 billion in 2009, but in 2016 it was worth $40 billion. It has been expanding (conservatively) at a rate of $10 billion per year, with a current market capitalization of (about) $60–73 billion. If the current trend holds, the best betting sites in the UK will own a sizable portion of the global industry.

Over 50% of UK individuals claimed to have wagered on a sporting event at least once in their lives, according to a recent Statista poll. It's possible that some respondents to the survey weren't completely honest about whether they would wager on sports because of the stigma that still surrounds it in the UK.

The Largest Sports Betting Market Is In APAC (Asia-Pacific)

With a population of more than 4 billion, it should come as no surprise that the APAC region holds the largest proportion of the market for sports betting. 47% of all sports bets worldwide are reportedly placed by those living in the APAC area.

What Is Fueling This Rise?

The answer is straightforward: greater money and increased digital connectivity.

In the past, two of the most significant sports betting revenue-producing regions in the globe were Macau and Hong Kong (both in APAC).

However, the remainder of the region's economic growth generates disposable income for pastimes like sports betting. More and more money could wind up being spent on athletic events as real incomes in the APAC region rise as they are expected to do.

Additionally, internet service providers in the APAC area report a noticeably higher market penetration. An improved internet connection enables users to get the most recent sporting news and information. When you can keep up with the newest in sports on a monthly, daily, or even hourly basis, it's much simpler to become a sports enthusiast (and sports bettor).

Transparency Market Research projects that between 2018 and 2024, the APAC region will grow at a CAGR of 12.9%. The market for sports betting is expected to grow faster in Asia than everywhere else in the world.

How Much Will Other Sports Betting Markets Expand?

Over 40% of all gambling revenue worldwide is currently generated by sports betting, which is more than any other category (inclusive of lotteries, casinos, poker, and other forms of gaming.). The CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) is anticipated to rise by a staggering 8.62% from 2018 to 2022, according to the most recent predictions from market research firm Technavio.

Sports betting is still expanding worldwide, even though attention is primarily focused on the US and APAC regions. Despite the fact that growth in Australia and Europe may not appear to be as brisk or remarkable, this is mostly because sports betting has a long history in these nations. However, these areas continue to see steady growth in sports betting.

The global market is heavily influenced by Africa and Latin America, but not as much as by APAC or the US. This is mostly related to general macroeconomic variables that influence GNP and poor internet connection.

What Sports Bets Are the Most Popular Worldwide?

Football (the European variety) has by far the highest betting volume, with American football coming in second. The other three major North American sports leagues, the MLB, NBA, and NHL, all see a lot of betting activity.

Despite being frequently labeled as a niche business, horse racing nevertheless sees a lot of betting activity in the US, UK, France, Australia, and South Africa, all of which are sizable markets.

The eSports Global Sports Betting Market

In terms of betting volume, eSports is the sports market that is expanding the quickest. For those who are not familiar, eSports are professionally played, organized multiplayer video game competitions. The games might be anything from Player Unknown Battlegrounds to Starcraft. Esports brought in more than $650 million in revenue in 2017 and are expected to bring in more than $1.5 billion by 2020.

A senior analyst at the market research firm Technavio claims that the growing popularity of eSports is forcing bookies to start taking bets in sports like golf, tennis, and rugby. The sports betting industry's revenue is being driven by this rising volume.