That immediately points towards ‘second tier’ sports filling the gaps in the US between live NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, horse racing, and the plethora of other sports available to fans across America. I can see demand for live sport in the USA mirroring that in the UK, and the American sports industry rising to meet that demand is, to coin a phrase, a “win-win for all”. Events in both sports are staged throughout the year with tournaments taking place from early until late on both weekdays and weekends – this means they both service the sports betting market extremely efficiently in time slots with no competition from major tier-one sports. In the UK, both snooker and darts were transformed by making content specifically for the betting market. As a result sports content has evolved into a truly 24/7 platform, with live sports on an endless carousel that meets consumer demand. In the rest of the world, live (in-game or in-play) betting rules, representing most of the betting volume in Europe and Asia. It was as if we were at the world’s best roulette table but someone had forgotten to spin the wheel.Ī quick scan of the internet showed that European books had bets open and live-streamed sports content available, featuring more than 40 live sports events from around the world.Īdmittedly, some of the online US books also had a smaller but still live and engaging offering, and I understand that, generally speaking, many of the sports played outside the USA are not mass-market American friendly, but that shines even more of a spotlight on the consumer-driven need for wall-to-wall, 24/7 American sports betting content.
But, despite the fact we were in the epicenter of the American gaming industry, just before Monday Night Football was due to start, there were absolutely no live sports on those screens for fans to engage with.
The facility had 20 screens of content right in front of us, showing a mixture of sports highlights, replays, and live talk TV. This was proven for me while I was in a huge Vegas casino sportsbook with an old friend during G2E. Throughout the last 18 months, the US sports betting industry has continued to grow at an incredible rate, so I was surprised to see for myself that America is still not satisfying sports bettors with enough live sports entertainment. October marked my first trip back to the USA and I can’t say enough about how good it was to be on the ground in America, at G2E in Vegas, and at meetings in-person with colleagues and friends across the country. As sports wagering takes hold in the US with more states opening up to the industry, David Sargeant, Innovation and Strategy Consultant at iGaming Ideas, explains why it’s time for sportsbooks to provide more live sports entertainment to match sports wagering’s growth intensity.