The Impact of Betting Apps on the Tennis Industry
Tennis is uniquely positioned as a sport that provides plenty of short-term, in-game betting opportunities, far more so than many other professional sports. While games like football and basketball can also provide ample in-play opportunities, the unique nature, and structure of how tennis is played mean that every point is crucial, with each rally lasting anywhere between 2 seconds and 2 minutes and hundreds more opportunities, with shorter active markets. While betting apps have revolutionized how we place bets on all sports, there has been plenty of discussion about how impactful tennis has been in ensuring that betting apps have increased the sophistication of their cash-out systems and in-play odds.
The algorithms that online betting apps now use are some of the most advanced and sophisticated ever designed, and this applies across a range of all betting markets. For example, the casino industry has profited immensely because of the incredible advances in betting apps and the technology that underpins them. It’s removed the need for live dealers to manually calculate bets to pay out, as they do in land-based casinos. Online casinos payout instantly and get another game of roulette or blackjack started far quicker, and over weeks and months, this results in thousands of extra games compared to land-based casinos, which inevitably leads to more profit for casino companies.
eSports in Tennis Betting
The gambling industry does not rest on its laurels and finds value in new markets, such as the professional video gaming market – which is known as eSports – although there’s not currently a tennis game that has an eSports league, it shows how equipped the industry is to move with the latest advancements, and betting apps are already having a seismic impact on the way people gamble on their favorite eSports.
Although betting apps have entirely changed the tennis betting landscape, eSports is a market that has emerged alongside the internet and smartphones, so it’s a different type of marketplace. Betting apps have continued to innovate, and you can now use cryptocurrency to place your eSports bets, often cited as a more secure and convenient way to gamble. Cryptocurrency betting is at the forefront of gambling innovation, and crypto eSports betting markets with high odds combine all the beneficial aspects of betting apps, the newest betting markets, and the most innovative ways of gambling with digital assets.
Crypto eSports is an excellent example of how a market has maximized the utility of betting apps and mobile phone betting. Still, tennis has also witnessed enormous changes, especially in-play markets. These sorts of broader innovations highlight how much creativity lies within the sector, and crypto tennis betting could be the next burgeoning market to explore within the expansive world of tennis betting.
How The Tennis Betting Market Grew
Traditionally, tennis hasn’t always had the same markets as other sports, such as boxing, football, or more popular American sports, such as American football or basketball. Before the internet and before anybody could place an in-play bet, the idea of being able to bet on individual rallies and games was just ideas on paper. While it is true that there were some markets, with action mainly occurring during Grand Slam tournaments such as Wimbledon, which have provided some thrilling moments over the years, the majority of bettors would place bets on outright markets, such as the overall winners of the male and female singles.
With prominent sports gambling markets offering increasing numbers of games in games outside of Grand Slam tournaments, more money started to flow into the sport. This impact has probably resulted in some of the negative headlines we have become accustomed to in the sport over the last decade.
For example, boxing was a sport marred by corruption, which still isn’t a clean sport today, but it is better. However, instances of fighters “taking a dive” or being encouraged to lose in a certain way has more or less vanished from the sport. However, tennis had never really had to deal with this until the explosion of the internet opened up a colossal new world of tennis markets.
The Current Market
Although the authorities have started to clamp down on this, and most tennis fans can place bets without issues, it’s been a steep learning curve learning to adapt to the hundreds of new markets that have sprung up recently.
A tennis betting loophole sprung up during smaller games, called “courtsiding” – where the umpire would have to press a button to freeze the in-play action. Still, audience spectators exploiting the loophole would place the bet seconds before the umpire pressed the button, some betting companies lost thousands of dollars because of this loophole, and it was a topic explored in greater detail by a BBC documentary in the UK.
In some countries, like Australia, for instance, the idea of being able to place a bet that exploited loopholes like this was soon shut down, and it’s no longer an area where gambling companies are losing out to people who are essentially aiming to cheat the system. Unfortunately, the impact of betting apps helped fuel the rise of these people looking to make a quick and easy bit of money by exploiting these loopholes and acting in bad faith.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for the tennis industry. Betting apps have allowed a whole range of markets to flourish. For the millions of us who like to place a casual bet on our favorite players during the big tournaments, the impact of betting apps has been a complete revelation.
For sports betting companies, it has caused a headache and led to a lot of energy, money, and resources for clamping down on people actively looking to exploit the system. Still, following the resolution of this issue, the tennis industry is looking toward a new era where plentiful markets will generate further interest in the sport.
