In-play or live betting has become increasingly popular in recent years. As the name suggests, it is about sports bets that are placed during an ongoing match. What opportunities does live betting offer for users and what are the challenges for the industry’s bookmakers? You will find the answers below as we take a closer look at the fascinating world of live betting.
The possibilities of live betting for users
Traditional betting in all its glory, it is no accident that live betting has become one of the most popular types of gambling within other European markets such as Germany with their live odds and Sweden with their Oddset live. Platforms like Mr Green are setting the standard within the industry, where you can make your detailed predictions of all the current trending sports and events. It offers several distinct advantages and opportunities for users compared to traditional betting. The most significant are:
- More entertainment – live betting makes matches more exciting and entertaining
- Greater engagement with the match – in-play betting connects the user to the match action in real time.
- More diversified betting opportunities – live betting users can choose from different betting options and take advantage of real-time trends.
- Social interactive experience – live betting often allows users to interact with each other via live chat features. This reinforces the exchange of tips and information but also creates a sense of community.
- Odds & Strategic Opportunities – Strategic bettors can benefit from the fact that odds change continuously during live betting matches. This offers users more dynamic betting opportunities as they can adapt to new information in real time.
Thus, live betting is an attractive concept that offers users a combination of dynamic betting opportunities, match excitement, and social interaction with other sports betting fans.
The challenges of live betting for users
Just like everything imagined in life, there are also challenges and risks with live betting for users. These include the following:
- Live betting is fast, which increases the risk of impulsive and less thoughtful betting decisions
- Limited time for real-time data analysis
- Risk of excessive gambling and chasing after realised losses
- Rapid fluctuations in odds can potentially become a disadvantage for users as well
- Potential technical issues during live matches
Despite the above mentioned factors, there are more opportunities than risks with live betting.
The challenges of live betting for bookmakers
We have already discussed the many benefits of live betting and some potential risks for users. At the same time, the live betting concept also poses various challenges for bookmakers in the betting market. The biggest challenges from a bookmaker’s perspective are as follows:
Technological Upgrade – The rapid development of live betting means that bookmakers and betting sites must continuously upgrade their technology and ensure that it is integrated with the very latest betting technologies on the market. This technological upgrade is critical to retaining existing customers and attracting new customer segments in the betting market.
Adapting to new customer needs – betting sites and bookmakers must devote considerable resources to adapting to the modern and dynamic betting needs of the younger generation. These young bettors tend to have different priorities and preferences than older generations in the sports betting market.
Building relationships with new customer segments – bookmakers and betting businesses are confronted with the challenge of building strong customer relationships and strengthening their brand among younger customer segments that show less loyalty to specific brands. In this context, it is critical for the long-term survival of the business to gain and secure customer trust and build potential customer loyalty.
Increased risk of fraud – live betting and other modern betting-related technologies increase the risks of potential fraud. As a result, betting businesses have to invest more time and resources in preventing and minimizing the risks of widespread cheating in the market.
Adapting to new regulations – The rise of live betting means that betting sites have to continuously adapt to new ones Regulatory framework.
Despite the above challenges, live betting also represents a good opportunity for serious and leading betting businesses to create strong and long-term relationships with existing and new customer segments.
What are the betting trends for the future?
The online gambling and bait market is complex and constantly changing. For this reason, it is a challenge to make a definite statement about the future. However, the trends in the betting market indicate that the live betting segment will continue to increase in popularity and volume. This is due to the previously discussed advantages that live betting offers over traditional betting.
The explosive rise of smartphones has meant a shift from desktop-based to mobile-based gambling and sports betting. For this reason, leading betting sites invest large resources in mobile-optimizing their live betting content.
Another trend is an increased focus on new exciting betting segments such as e-sports and fantasy sports. These are not substitutes but rather complements to the traditional betting market and live betting. These new betting markets also open the door to completely new demographic customer segments, which in the future can potentially benefit and strengthen the betting market as a whole.
Final Words
Live betting allows sports betting users to make bets during ongoing matches. Live betting thus offers more entertainment, flexible betting opportunities and social interaction with other bettors. For bookmakers, live betting offers opportunities but also challenges in the form of customized entertainment content for younger customer segments. Furthermore, betting sites must focus on customer relationship building, adapting to new technologies and regulations. Future trends indicate that live betting will continue to increase and that the betting business will become more mobile-focused.
