Imagine going to a game of football with your mates and from the corner of your eye spotting some shady figure constantly picking at his phone. Weird, you might think, because this is fairly uncommon, but it might not be in the coming years. Scouting for data and progress on-the-spot is illegal in most places because sports progress reporting has been signed off to certain companies. Creating a monopoly of sorts and they do not want to lose this status.
It might not seem like it, but sports data is valuable. Not just for entertainment purposes, but also for betting, gambling and much more. We can only expect this side of sports to get more competition in the future.
One of the more notable fields of sports betting is e-sports. It is already believed to reach a betting volume of around 13 billion USD in 2020. This is huge. With new players and professional gamers coming in each year, it is very much likely that this betting volume will grow exponentially in the coming years. Increasing amounts of dedicated viewers, global interest, tournament prize pools and overall hype of this sport make it very appealing to the younger generation.
With the birth of crypto currency, many crypto casinos have popped up globally and today hold a fairly small portion of the gambling industry. Mainly because it is so thinly regulated and has several loopholes for illegal activities, but it is getting more legitimate. It will continue developing in this line and we will see more and more this kind of establishments gaining traction.
Where are we now
Sports betting is still very much traditional: boxing, racing, football, tennis, etc. There are some oddballs here and there, like Love Island betting, presidential campaign betting, and Time Person of the Year. A fair portion of the bets made today are made locally and on the spot. Bettors get most of their information from the latest betting sites and traditions are fading among younger bettors. The world is evolving fast and taking every aspect of life along with it.
Potential dangers
Most of the potential (and current) dangers have to do with digitalization and globalization. They create a fast network for information sharing and allow black market information dealers to thrive. Dealers will hire scouts to immediately report on every important bit of information. This kind of practice is today illegal and will most likely stay that way.
Another danger of digitalization is data security. With most bets already made online, this issue will be increasingly more relevant in the coming years. Building secure data storage facilities and services are something every venue is going to have to face down the line. Being online will be a must, but it will also require certain responsibility handling delicate customer data.
Conclusion
Sports betting has never developed as fast as it is today. With e-sports aiming for the throne in the coming decade and most bets already made online, traditions are not as strong as they used to be. While football, boxing and racing will probably never leave the stage, other sideliners might.
It is logical to assume that most of the betting will start taking place on large betting sites and small, new platforms will have to compete even harder for each and every customer. Bettors prefer security and stability because they want to be able to focus on sports.
We will start seeing large shifts in the betting landscape towards digitalization and process automation. Those who keep up will thrive and most will shrivel. In the next decade, the digital currencies will become a normal tool when placing bets and will not be so volatile.
