Sports betting has undergone quite the transformation over the years, having first been thought to have taken place as long as 2,000 years ago when the Greeks first pioneered the idea whilst watching the first Olympics. Back then, it was all very simple, but fast forward to today, and there are myriad options for placing wagers on your favourite pursuits, covering everything from horse racing and football to gymnastics, ice skating and athletics.
Since making its way to Rome, where gladiatorial battles became some of the earliest subjects, contemporary sports betting has become a multi-million pound business, and it’s largely thanks to the evolution of the online space, which has made it more accessible to anyone over the legal age in the UK with just a few clicks of a button.
As well as becoming increasingly easy to log onto gambling sites, many of the leading sports betting platforms have evolved over recent years to offer smartphone apps to make them even more user friendly. With up to 80 per cent of all internet users globally doing so via their mobile phones as opposed to desktops – or at least, favouring this means of doing so – it was a wise and in many ways, essential move. And, with the plethora of new user offers and VIP programmes being constantly promoted via email and social media marketing, business is officially booming.
Once associated with seedy bookmakers, sports betting has enjoyed a glamorous new makeover, with even some of the world’s most esteemed casinos offering sportsbooks alongside traditional games like Blackjack, Poker and Roulette. And seeking out the best casino online is now easier than ever for enthusiasts and big money gamblers thanks to the numerous review sites that have been popping up over the past decade, allowing anyone who enjoys a flutter to see at a glance which sites and apps are worthy of a visit.
Whichever way you look at it, the global transition into the digital world has changed the face of sports gambling forever, and in 2023, the latest tech innovations are continuing to alter the landscape in ways we never could have predicted previously. Today, the possibilities are quite literally limitless, and it’s an exciting time to participate, with the user experience of the top betting sites, online casinos and apps improving by the minute.
Cast your mind back to the 90s, and it might tickle you somewhat to remember the initial excitement around the concept of the ‘in-play bet’, which allowed punters to telephone a bookmaker and place a wager against a bookmaker that had drawn up odds for a particular sporting outcome, in real time.
Once considered cutting edge, it’s a far cry from what’s possible today, and should give you a good idea of just how far we’ve come since then, with it now possible to log into a smartphone app, view odds and place a bet within seconds. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a time where the ‘in-play bet’ didn’t exist, or get your head around how people decided who to place their money on at all – and begs the question of just how much more advanced play will be in another 20 years from now, and how archaic the current set-up could seem by then.
In today’s modern world, the latest innovations are serving as the catalyst for further advancements, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing a key role. As well as improving customer service no end by allowing bookmakers to deal with requests and issues more quickly and efficiently, it is also changing the face of the betting process itself, enabling bookies to regulate the amount of money being spent on any given sports betting market and identify burgeoning trends as they unfold so they can improve the overall betting experience for customers.
The development of the internet was, of course, single-handedly responsible for the initial explosion of the online betting market, but things haven’t slowed down since then, and with the arrival of the Metaverse on the horizon, things could be about to get even more interesting. Many online betting sites and casinos are already in the process of developing technology that will facilitate betting within this new and intriguing virtual world, with blockchain and immersive technologies expected to be key.
Gambling is set to become more immersive and advanced than ever before, and in ways that, currently, it feels difficult to envision. But as the year continues and the concept gathers momentum, it won’t be long before we get to experience it first hand, with some exciting times ahead for sports bettors guaranteed.
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