People have been betting on different events, sports or not, since the beginning of the world. One can say it’s in human nature. With the development of technology, betting became more accessible to more people, and we came to a point that every person that owns a mobile device is able to bet. In comparison to other types of betting, sports have been the most favorite type of betting for some time now. Live sports betting is a rather new type of betting since it has arrived in certain places of the world let’s say a bit more than a decade ago. It led to a new way of socializing, where the betting shops were stacked with gamblers hanging around the venues all day long, discussing outcomes, placing bets, winning, and losing.
Not much has changed since it started happening. Even today you have the same people hanging around the same venues, placing live bets, and biting their nails as they await the outcome. However, the options have widened, because we are now able to bet live, thanks to the online sports betting platforms, such as sportni-portal.com. Such platforms have enabled us to place live bets, without having to go anywhere, from the comfort of our homes, from work, beach or any other place that has available WIFI connection for accessing the internet. Sports such as tennis and soccer are most famous for the best, however, the fever of betting is intensified during some of the biggest sports events. During these times, even cricket becomes popular for betting. Here are the 5 biggest sports betting events in the world.
1. Superbowl
Americans are going crazy about this sports event. It is the final game of the American football professional league. The team who wins the final game also wins the title of the world champion. It’s usually played in the last week of January or in the first week of February, as was the case in 2024. Since all the events are now watchable online, its popularity exceeded USA borders, and people started betting and cheering in different time zones.
It is the event that breaks the watching record every year in the USA, and like we mentioned it’s increasingly popular in the rest of the world. It’s the time the commercials aired during the half time are the most expensive, ever. Half a minute commercial this year was worth 5.6 million $. Aside from that the biggest music stars such as Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, are preparing for halftime all year long. It’s a great privilege to perform in front of so many people. The hymn is usually performed by the biggest music stars.
Betting shops and casinos in Vegas receive a crazy amount of money during this period, and they break records every year. For example, in 2018, they received 158,5 million dollars of payment. It was 20 million more than the previous year.
2. NBA finals
The popularity of basketball cannot be compared to the popularity of soccer, however, when it comes to NBA no person in the world hasn’t heard of at least one of the players from the league (like the never forgotten Michael Jordan). It’s the never-ending battle, the clash of titans, to describe it dramatically. The time of the last series of games in the playoff, the battle of East and West.
Two conferences (east and west) are taking part in the best of seven matches, after which the winner of title/trophy is announced (the champion of the league).
Not only it’s the time where half of the world is watching basketball, but it is also a competition of all online sports betting shops in attracting as many as possible bettors. To achieve this, they assemble a long list of betting options and the best odds possible. It’s an important time for positioning on the market since bettors will remember what they offered and therefore consider them in other sports events and games.
3. Kentucky Derby
Horse racing might not be what you thought was considered to be on the list of the most popular sports betting events. However, last year almost 300,000$ was wagered on the event. It’s considered to be one of the most popular sports in the last two centuries. Its roots are in the post-industrial Great Britain era, where it was one sort of elite entertainment. It soon spread out beyond the current UK borders, as it was the most desirable sport at the time. The UK had a huge influence on the rest of the world, so this sport was exported as the British traveled the globe. North America and Australia are two countries with the biggest betting market when it comes to this sport. Not to mention the fact that North America is known for its wild horses, the famous mustangs. It was only natural for it to be well adapted to their soil.
4. Boxing for the world titles
Not so rich when it comes to the number of matches, but boxing being an individual sport involves huge sums of money, during the events organized for world heavyweight title. Betting shops offer several different options, some simple like the outcome – the winner of the title, or some more complicated like the total number of rounds, methods the boxer used to win, the total number of hits, will there be a knockout, and when, and so on.
Pomp and luxury are an integral part of this sport, and champions have been rewarded with huge sums of money. Boxing is universal in terms of popularity – it is loved and followed all over the world, without exception. No doubt, extremely popular in the betting world, where hundreds of millions of dollars are “turned over” before each match.
5. World cup
No need to explain why soccer is the most famous sport of all. The world cup gathers the best players and best teams. The most popular long-term odds prediction is for the winner of the cup. It is also the most-watched sports event in the world.
The sports betting industry collects huge amounts of money during these events. But, a lot of people get lucky by winning too.
