In the past several years, sports betting popularity in California has skyrocketed. After the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018, online gambling quickly became one of the country’s fastest-growing and most profitable sectors. Bettors from all across the United States are flocking to online sportsbooks and online casinos. Bettors in the sports betting industry have never had it so good, as operators compete for a larger slice of the pie.
Let’s take a look at the data to see just how massive sports betting has gotten. The numbers are enormous in both the online and offline sports betting industries, with some of the largest betting conglomerates boasting hundreds of thousands of consumers from all corners of the globe. Bets on sporting events account for between 30 and 40 percent of all gambling revenue worldwide. This figure includes lotto, casinos, blackjack, and other forms of gaming. Worldwide, it is believed that over half a gazillion dollars are wagered yearly, which is more than €500 million. Morgan Stanley, a global investment firm, estimates that the betting industry in the United States alone would grow from $833 million in 2021 to over $7 billion in 2025.
Given the foregoing, it’s clear that sportsbooks need to provide a unique experience to their customers if they want to grow their user base. The availability of a wide variety of betting options across a variety of sports is one manner in which this may be accomplished. When looking at lists such as Basketball Insiders list of the best sports betting sites California has to offer, you realize that there are a lot of serious sports enthusiasts in the United States. Therefore, bookmakers need to make sure they have odds and markets for all the main sports, both local and international.
Now that we have established that, let’s examine the most widely gambled-on sports in the US.
It’s possible to wager on any sport you can think of, with the newest subcultures, like eSports, seeing the greatest increases in player and audience interest and betting action. But there have always been the same few giants that make up the vast majority of the world’s sports betting industry. While exact numbers vary from country to country, the following sports are always among the most popular for wagering across the world:
NFL
In the United States, football is by far the most played sport. It’s also the most popular bet type at legitimate bookmakers. The most money is wagered on professional football, and each game receives a lot of attention and wagers. Professional football (NFL) and college football betting are also offered to customers in various areas, with a full complement of betting options including money line sports and live betting.
Although soccer is the more common name for football in Europe, wagers on what is known as “American football” there are popular nonetheless. Futures bets on the Super Bowl champion can be placed before the normal season begins, and so can parlay wagers covering many games on a single weekend.
Bets on the NFL will be available at a wide variety of US bookmakers.
Soccer
As one of the most popular sports in the world, soccer naturally makes the cut. Once reserved for horse races, soccer betting has exploded in popularity because of in-game wagering and early cash-out options. It is believed that more than £1 billion is wagered annually in the UK on soccer. With hundreds of millions of people watching major games, the real amount of betting in football must be immense, but exact worldwide market estimates are hard to get because of many unregulated marketplaces.
With emerging players like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie on the US national team, Major League Soccer (MLS) is also on the rise in the United States. A successful qualifying run by the USMNT to the 2022 World Cup would be great for the sport’s growing fan base in the United States.
Horse Racing
It’s no surprise that horse racing has been the most widely gambled sport for most of its existence. As one of the few sports where wagering is legal around the clock, worldwide popularity is hardly surprising given that horse racing has some of the largest purses in sports.
Over €100 billion is wagered each year on horse races. Unexpectedly, the largest market is Japan, followed by the United Kingdom and Australia. Due to the recent legalization of gambling in several US jurisdictions, the racing sector has the potential to awaken as a formidable competitor.
Tennis
Tennis is the third most bet-on sport in the world, which may come as a surprise to some. Live/in-play betting began when you could only wager on the winner of a set; today, you can wager on the winner of individual games, making tennis a high-frequency betting sport.
Given that the top three players in tennis have dominated the sport for 20 years, it is relatively safe to bet on the underdog in the early stages of a tennis tournament because of how the draws work. However, live betting has been the key driver in the tremendous increase in tennis betting.
The International Tennis Federation is the best source for up-to-date tennis information and schedules.
Rugby
There have been many changes at the top of the betting tables for rugby union, as several new countries have emerged as contenders. There are now 30 countries having rugby teams, with 20 making it to the 2019 World Cup.
It undoubtedly took the cake as the most monumental rugby contest ever.
The Home Nations in the Southern Hemisphere and the Six Nations in Europe are the two major annual tournaments that people prefer to take a chance on, beside the World Cup. Furthermore, huge amounts of money are wagered on the Super Rugby League, the English Premiership, the French Top 14, and the European Champions Cup.
Because there are so many moving parts in a rugby game, in-play betting on the sport was extremely popular in 2017.
Boxing / MMA
Although it has been overshadowed by football, tennis, and golf, boxing is still a major sport for wagering. Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a growing sport with a long UFC history.
Esports
When considering betting volume, eSports is the fastest-growing sport and sports industry. eSports’ rising profile has put pressure on bookies to change with the times or get left behind. Virtual racing has been around for a while, but in 2020, the other virtual sports took off, and now all the main bookmakers provide match betting on eSports games in addition to the traditional horse races. The sports betting sector as a whole is seeing tremendous growth in income because of this escalating volume.