Sports betting has been around for a long time now but it was only in the late 90s when this industry also made its presence felt on the internet. Many found this convenient as they no longer have to drive to book shops to take their bets, but surely, it took a while before this was the preferred option by many.
Fast-forward to today, this is now the preferred way for sports fans and punters to place their bets. People would visit India’s top-rated cricket betting sites and online casinos to place their bets nowadays. However, what’s becoming more apparent is that they are doing this online with their mobile devices.
The Rise of Mobile Betting
Research suggests that in the next five to ten years, around 90 percent of all online sports bets will be placed with a mobile device. For the state of New Jersey in the United States, they seem to already be living in the future as the state reported that 80 to 90 percent of their sports betting handle is already coming from mobile users.
The use of smartphones and the internet surely is a game-changer for many industries including sports betting. Mobile tech has made many activities more accessible than ever. Punters can now place their bets even at the comfort of their homes.
In the US, more states are starting to legalize sports betting since 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992. Since then, sports betting became federally legal and localities have the power to decide whether they would like to regulate the local sports betting in their territories.
Today, the US has over 20 states with legal sports betting and the majority of them allow mobile betting. It is also worth sharing that even if the state of New York only allows in-person betting since the said gambling activity became legal, it didn’t seem enough.
Initially, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has always been straight-forward about how mobile betting seems unnecessary for the state to gain more revenues. He used to think that the state only needs to develop its local casinos to gain more betting revenues.
However, Governor Cuomo appears to have already changed his mind about this. When 2021 came in, it appears that he is now open to looking into also allowing mobile betting in the state. After all, New York is dealing with a huge tax deficit and it is greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lack of mobile betting in this state allowed New Jersey to take in more bets. It was also reported that New Yorkers were riding the train to New Jersey just so they can place their bets with their mobile device. New York’s take on sports betting is just an example of how mobile betting could affect how an economy could benefit from it.
Why Mobile Betting?
An easy answer to this question is convenience. Many punters who have moved to mobile betting simply find it easier to place their bets without having to visit a bookie. However, there’s more to it. Consumers are now doing things more quickly and the use of mobile apps simply suits their needs.
In 2017, many industries have seen a shift in how consumers do their businesses. They switched from laptops and desktop computers to their mobile devices. This was also the year when the growth of mobile gambling increased from 29 to 39 percent. The following year, it jumped to 51 percent.
The shift is understandable. The number of mobile users has also exponentially grown over the last few years. Today, it is estimated that there are already around 4 billion smartphone users worldwide. People would just really rather spend money on smartphones rather than computers or laptops these days.
It’s because smartphones are mini-computers that they can carry around anywhere. These days, a powerful smartphone no longer has to be expensive. It’s becoming more affordable which makes it more available to people from around the world.
Today, it’s also simply no longer enough for online bookies and casinos to just make their websites mobile-friendly. Gambling companies see this and this is why many of them are now releasing their apps. After all, it’s way easier and quicker to just open an app than use a mobile browser to log in to a website only to log in once again with your credentials. With that, more gambling companies will likely be releasing their apps this year and in the coming years.