SBC Summit Experts Predict Micro-Betting Will Be The Next Big Hit in Sports Betting

Sports betting’s rapid rise in America is poised for more growth as industry experts predict micro-betting will be the next big craze in sports entertainment.

Panelists and guests connected to sports teams and gambling entities at SBC Summit North America shared a consistent message: Micro-betting is picking up steam and will become a prominent fixture in sports betting very soon.

Micro-betting allows users to predict the exact outcome of smaller events within a game or event. That could be as simple as the next play being a run or a pass or as complex as Steph Curry’s next points coming on a three-pointer.

Micro-betting is seen as the evolution and expanded coverage of sports betting, which has already taken over traditional sports. 37 states have legalized sports wagering and most professional sports teams and leagues have gambling sponsors.

The implementation of micro-betting hinges on the development of technology within the industry. However, those developments are already being made and will continue to come as the smaller, more frequent method of gambling takes off.

Andrew Bimson, Sportradar’s president and chief operating officer in North America, said that micro-betting, although it has a smaller market now, is the fastest-growing form of live betting. He also projected $20 billion in total handle for micro-betting by 2027.

The allure of micro-betting is the deeper and more connected experience it provides to bettors. For example, waiting to find out if the team a player bet on won or lost can take hours, but finding out if the next pitch is a ball of strike takes a matter of seconds, then the bettor has an entirely new opportunity to predict the next pitch.

“Customers are immediately engaged in the bet,” said Mark Hughes, PointsBet’s chief product officer. “You don’t have to wait very long for your bet to settle. You’re going to get more play, longer sessions. It’s going to be a really popular bet going into the future.”

There’s also the opportunity to innovate micro-betting. Scott Kaufman-Ross, vice president and head of fantasy and gaming for the NBA, envisions a world in which bettors can predict when teams are going to go on runs within games, similar to how traditional sportsbooks have markets for the first team to 10, 15, and 20 (plus more) points.

In this hypothetical market, bettors could make live “race to x points” predictions based on when they think a team is going to go on a run.

The impending rise of micro-betting will also provide an opportunity for other gambling companies to make breakthroughs in the market, which is currently dominated by FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Caesars.

Vice president of digital sports for Caesars Entertainment, Kevin Fulmer, shared his excitement for the opportunity for growth within the gambling market. 

“We know the technology is there,” he said. “It’s all about sending the right bet to the right customer at the right time.”

One company that jumped the micro-betting trend is Betr, co-founded by internet celebrity-turned-boxer Jake Paul and industry veteran Joey Levy. Betr formed last year and is live in Ohio, Paul’s home state, as well as Massachusetts.

“It introduces instant gratification to the sports betting experience,” said Levy.

But while that creates a more individualized experience for sports fans, it also increases the time they will spend focused on placing bets and potentially the risk for gambling addiction.

“That heavy frequency is associated with gambling problems,” said executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, Keith Whyte. “You can get a hit of dopamine every few seconds; it’s more akin to playing a slot machine than betting on sports.”

America is roughly five years removed from its court decision to legalize sports betting nationwide. The American Gaming Association recently released a set of updated standards related to partnerships between colleges and sportsbooks, but the potential of the market is still largely untapped.