The Rapid Evolution of Online Betting

With the Internet, the evolution of online betting has exploded.

Every industry evolves over time.

Process efficiencies, product innovations and elevated services are all at play to make companies far better at what they do. The ones that fail to adapt continue to fall by the wayside.

The industry innovators rise to the top of the list as their market share grows.

A perfect example of an industry that is suddenly evolving at an accelerated pace is sports betting. Not that long ago, options for betting on sports were extremely limited. 

Nevada was the land-based sports betting hotspot in the US market with books in Las Vegas and Reno. In 2021, more than half the states in the country offer sports betting in one form or another.

A little over two decades ago, sportsbooks offered their services to a much broader market. Sportsbooks turned to the internet.They offered services to more than their country of origin. Most were primarily located in jurisdictions with favorable sports betting regulations.

As the internet grew, so did the evolution of online betting.

A perfect example of this was the offshore sportsbook industry in Costa Rica. They had the green light to create online betting platforms that could cater to the US market.

While the US federal government did their best to curtail this practice. These site’s legality was tied to their particular jurisdiction.

The biggest change in the US sports betting industry came in May of 2018. That’s when the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of an individual state’s right to regulate sports betting within its borders.

This opened the door to US sportsbooks operating in individual states. It also bolstered the right for offshore sportsbooks to do the same.

With the cloud of federal jurisdiction removed, more and more US players turned to offshore books operating an online betting platform.

The US sportsbook industry continues to expand but there is still a wide gap between what an offshore sportsbook can offer. Especially when compared to US books hindered by individual state regulations.

In light of regulation with minimal restrictions. The offshore sportsbooks operating online continue to dominate the overall sports betting marketplace.

When comparing the two, the main difference is the overall variety of betting options. Offshore books are only limited by their imagination. Working with the best oddsmaking services in the world, if you can think of it, you can probably bet on it at any number of offshore books operating online.

Another big difference is the competitiveness of the actual betting lines. US books face much deeper tax burdens on the sports betting revenue they earn. This forces them to increase their overall hold through higher commissions.

US bettors can take advantage of a large selection of ‘reduced juice’ betting options at their offshore book of choice. 

Saving five percent on a lost wager may not sound like a big deal, but when you add everything up over the course of the year, the savings could be substantial based on your particular betting strategy, habits and traits.

A third major area of difference is a US book’s promotional program versus the level of incentives offered by the offshore sportsbook industry. 

Once again, given each state’s tax structure. There is only so much money that can be funneled back to bettors through bonuses, incentives and other promotional offers. Offshore books have multiple ways to bolster an online betting account given their overall advantage in economies of scale. This has only helped the evolution of online betting.

It’s NCAA Tournament time! Let’s see what we had to say last year. We wrote about March Madness 2021.