Any doubts about the thirst for sports gambling in the United States might be lessened by what recently happened in Tennessee. The Volunteer State began to allow legalized sports gambling in November 2020.
In the first week of legalization, Tennessee gamblers wagered $27 million on sporting events.
“This is a state not in diapers, it’s even before that,” said Adam Greenblatt, CEO of BetMGM. “Our bet count for the month was higher than in the state of New Jersey. That tells me there’s a latent demand and a massive ramp where the regulations are facilitated.”
Greenblatt spoke Tuesday at “Vision of the Future,” a panel discussion at the virtual conference Betting on Sports America. Hosted by David Wang, founder and CEO of Bet.Works, the panel also featured Kip Levin, CEO of FOXBet; Rush Street Gaming CEO Greg Carlin; Dermot Smurfit of the igaming software firm GAN; and Kristian Nylen, CEO of Kambi, a provider of sports betting and technology services.
Levin, who is also the US CEO for Betfair, said the company has been active in New Jersey since the launch of online gaming in 2013.
“We thought we had a good view as to how big the (sports gambling) market would be,” Levin said. “It’s probably two or three times what we would have estimated by now. And every other market has sort of followed suit that we’ve launched in.”
With online sports wagering in Michigan possible as early as this month, that will bring the total number of states (including the District of Columbia) where sports betting is legal to 25. That pace of regulatory approval since sports gambling was legalized in the US in 2018 is “staggering,” Levin said. “It’s well beyond what we would have expected.”
The burgeoning popularity of sports gambling will have numerous side effects. Wang said there’s likely to be more interest from investors and more investment opportunities. Product development will also increase, with companies vying to create features that will draw interest from US gamblers.
“It’s very much about how much data we can absorb,” Nylen said. “What we’ve seen the last couple of years is that we’re able to collate more data and doing much, much better algorithms.
Nylen suggested those algorithms may allow more pitch-by-pitch wagers in baseball and predictions about play calling in football. “You’ll see more and more features that allow fast-paced betting,” Nylen said.
Carlin thinks developers will concentrate on features that will appeal to both casual and hardcore sports gamblers. He said Rush Street Gaming has a “proprietary bonus engine” that will offer bettors free bets and other enhancements.
“I think you’re going to see innovation around that,” Carlin said. “How you differentiate your product compared to your competitors will be key to your success.”
Another promising development has been the integration of sports media with sports betting. More sports networks are featuring sports betting shows, and even pre-game programs offer points spreads and other gambling information that was considered off limits just a few years ago.
“The fact that you see pre-game shows now where betting is part of the pre-game analysis, I wouldn’t have guessed we’d be that far this quickly,” Levin said. “I think the next phase of that will be more people will be watching live sports streaming, and so as the media landscape changes, that will open up really interesting innovation opportunities for people who want to watch. Imagine you’re streaming a live game in an app where you can see your bet wrapped around it and make decisions while you’re watching a game with everything in one place.”
