Chapter 3: Betting and connected
portable devices
3.1 Introduction
There are more active SIM cards in the world now than there are people according to the latest data.
And in the USA, three-quarters of people have smartphones. The ‘anytime, anyplace, anywhere’
convenient culture of mobile phones, combined with their status as a trusted device makes them
ideally placed for offering betting services to customers. Betting companies are indeed getting in on
the act by increasingly offering mobile websites and smartphone applications (‘apps’).
In the past few years digital sports betting software developers have injected vast amounts of capital
into the development of such mobile propositions. New sports betting technology is designed to
display all the graphics, sound effects and game backgrounds just like the online versions, right on a
mobile phone screen. This has generated a wide range of mobile sports betting options.
The mobile platform opens up a wealth of opportunities from alternative channels for placing bets to
advance real-time interaction through on-course, in-play and ‘on-the-spot’ betting, removing the need
for customers to visit a bricks and mortar establishment or find a computer to place a bet.
In order to be successful, mobile betting operators need to reach as broad a set of consumers as
possible and offer solutions that work best for the platform being viewed, while at the same time
minimising the time and cost invested in delivery.
Marketing is an essential part of the mix, making it easy for customers to hear about the offerings and
then to reach and use the services. SMS shortcodes can easily be incorporated in