There are few faster-growing global economic sectors than the gambling industry, which has expanded rapidly thanks to recent liberalization of gambling laws and the development of new technology, such as ever-faster internet connections and HTML5.
The legalization of sports betting in the US, as a result of a 2018 Supreme Court decision, has given additional impetus to the burgeoning industry. Betting on sports now takes place in a majority of states across the US, and there is huge interest in betting on the major leagues, particularly the NFL.
The highly competitive NFL betting markets, for which bookmakers offer competing promotional NFL betting codes to encourage NFL fans to bet with them, underline just how popular sports betting has become in the US and around the world. Yet the NFL is not the biggest betting sport on the planet.
Soccer
When it comes to sports betting, soccer rules the world. This is not surprising, given that it is a long-established and genuinely global game. The FIFA World Cup, the Champions League, the Premier League and many other soccer tournaments are watched by hundreds of millions of fans around the world, and the soccer betting sector has expanded to meet the demand for soccer markets.
The UK is where soccer began and it is one of the oldest gambling markets in the world, so it is also not surprising that there is a thriving soccer betting industry there. It is estimated that around $1 billion is wagered on soccer in the UK every year.
The biggest soccer betting event, of course, is the World Cup. Staged every four years and featuring the best international teams in the world, this global event attracts staggering volumes of betting, with around $1 billion being wagered on each game at the 2022 event.
Soccer betting is particularly popular in Asia, where billions of dollars are wagered every year via mobile and other devices, mostly on European and South American leagues, and there is even a distinctive form of betting known as the Asian Handicap, which was created specifically to bet on soccer.
Tennis
Tennis cannot rival soccer for popularity but is a good example of a sport that works well as a betting vehicle. Of course, it is one of the main global sports and some of the top tennis tournaments, such as the Grand Slam events, are major international competitions. In fact, it has been estimated that the audience for Wimbledon, the most prestigious Grand Slam event, reaches a billion, and there are similarly-sized audiences for all the other Grand Slam tournaments.
One of the reasons why tennis has become so popular with bettors is that there are so many tournaments to bet on throughout the year. The ATP and WTA Tours run pretty much from January through to December, and in total, there are around 1,500 tournaments on the various Tours. Most players also have long careers, which means that bettors can become accustomed to their strengths and weaknesses, while the stop-start nature of the sport is perfect for live betting.
Horse Racing
Of all the modern betting sports, horse racing can claim to be the oldest. People have been wagering on the outcome of horse races for centuries, and although the sport is not staged in every nation, there are thriving horse racing sectors in most of the world’s major sports and betting hubs.
More than any other sport, horse racing can also claim a betting connection – indeed, the popularity of horse racing in the 21st century rests largely on the betting element.
The biggest races in the world are not just exciting sports occasions, they are also huge betting events. The Grand National in the UK, the Kentucky Derby in the US, Australia’s Melbourne Cup and the Japan Cup in Tokyo have global audiences, and billions of dollars are wagered as horse racing bettors try to predict the winner of these events and get the best prices.
Cricket
Although cricket is not a big sport in the US and cannot claim to be a global sport in the way that soccer and tennis are, it does have a huge international following, particularly in Asia.
Cricket remains popular in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and on some Caribbean islands, but in the 21st century, the stronghold of the game is in South Asia. Cricket is the most popular sport in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and has a following in Afghanistan.
The volumes of money wagered on cricket in South Asia are thought to be immense, although since it is illegal to gamble in most of those nations, the true figures cannot be determined. However, the popularity of the sport in that region drives international gambling companies to offer a huge range of cricket markets, particularly in the Twenty20 format, with the 2019 Indian Premier League generating roughly $80 million dollars in wagers across the whole tournament.
Basketball
Football and the NFL may be at the top of the tree when it comes to US sports and sports betting, but it doesn’t have the same appeal outside of the US, which is not the case with basketball. The NBA is the most popular global basketball betting event, but the NCAA Division One tournament in the US is a huge betting event, with an estimated $15 billion wagered on the 2023 March Madness tournament, while the FIBA World Cup and many of Europe’s top basketball leagues are all big betting events.