ACTION
INSTANT
Micro betting brings constant acton — and big revenues — to the sports betting business By Dave Bontempo
Gaming hails The Great Multiplier . Micro betting , the in-game phenomenon for legalized sports wagering , is part of the multibillion-dollar tailwind blowing across state gambling jurisdictions . Just as the bonus trigger spikes the payout of an online slot , micro betting propels sports-betting revenues within each contest .
Predict the next at-bat , basket or whether the following play is a run or pass . Wager on the immediate result of the next sequence . Capitalize on a hunch .
Technology supporting this practice goes to the heart of human nature itself . Gamblers love side action . Micro betting is the sports equivalent of a wildcard wager on the next card , a one-roll “ hi-lo ” dice toss seeking 2 or 12 , even a double-down on two blackjack picture cards , face up . Action , action , we want action . Gamblers craving immediate results within the large overall contest are getting it .
The Market Grows
This dynamic surges amid the growing American online sports-wagering market . On March 10 , Massachusetts became the latest state to green-light mobile betting . That unfolds just in time for the lucrative March Madness basketball tournament .
According to Legal Sports Report , there are 30 states with legalized wagering . They have accounted for more than $ 200 billion of betting handle , $ 15 billion in revenue and $ 2.5 billion tax revenues to states since 2018 .
All of this has unfolded with a relatively friendly 7.7 percent betting hold , meaning that customers believe they have a fair shot at winning . If revenues are to spike , more options must be made available . Micro betting adds fuel to that roaring fire . It also adds a cat-and-mouse dynamic between gamblers and operators . Players scout deals , knowing that an NFL first-down incompletion may take a team from plus numbers to minus numbers , thereby negating value . The under on an over-under run line can change from + 150 to -210 if a basesloaded double play gets a team out of the inning .
Timing , the fuel of micro betting , is crucial .
Both casual players and big gamblers try wagering into a sweet spot . Micro betting also fits the reduced attention span of the instant-gratification age . Some gamblers don ’ t want one result in a two-hour period . They want 20 .
This progression points to ingame wagering exceeding pre-game betting and perhaps driving 50 percent of overall revenue in the coming years .
Riches await companies able to service this trend , and two in particular have emerged .
Kambi , based in England , earned the pole position of American operators with the 2018 repeal of the federal sports-betting ban . Rather than build time-consuming sports-betting models , casino companies can enlist Kambi for a turnkey operation . For those who did so over the last four years , becoming instantly ready for the lucrative NFL season was worth this partnership .
Simplebet has specialized in the next-bet realm and become an industry leader . This is a lightly tapped area with room to grow .
The ascent of Simplebet and Kambi mirror the larger surge in sports betting .
A Fantastic Serve
Kambi officials note that although the significance of micro betting , or instant betting as they call it , has catered to international sports for a long time , it was first offered with tennis in 2011 . The stakes have increased substantially .
The company has long been ahead of the curve to anticipate the explosive U . S . market . That diligence includes everything from cultivating relationships with American-based companies to opening an office in the United States .
40 Global Gaming Business APRIL 2023