Seventy-four percent of Americans—more than 240 million people—say they are avid or casual sports fans. According to research done by the American Gaming Association (AGA), sports bettors are an incredibly engaged audience. Seventy-five percent of NFL bettors say they are more likely to watch a game they bet on, and forty-four percent of Americans believe in-stadium sportsbooks add to the entertainment value of attending sporting events.
The fan experience has evolved beyond heading to a stadium and watching your favorite sport or catching your favorite team’s game from the comfort of your home. Since the 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Betting Protection Act (PASPA), fans are now able to bet on sports legally in 31 jurisdictions—21 of which fans can place wagers on mobile devices.
The repeal of PASPA opened doors for many new companies to emerge. One example is Betting Hero, an in-person customer acquisition company in the mobile gaming industry. The company started as a street team traveling to tailgates throughout New Jersey helping customers sign up for the newly legalized sports betting apps.
"Since 2018, our live activation and research teams have been analyzing the sports betting behaviors of hundreds of thousands of fans at hundreds of events in and around their favorite team's stadium or venue,” says Jai Maw, President of Betting Hero. “One thing that is abundantly clear is that for many consumers, sports betting absolutely enhances the fans' experience in a game or event. During a recently completed study of sports fans and bettors in New York, we found that 83% of fans bet on their own team and 34% of that cohort do so frequently (once per week during the season). In a separate national study focused on fans of a major U.S. sport, we found that when served personalized sports betting markets or features; casual or everyday fans would be 81% more likely to engage in the event."
Another new development has been the expansion of sportsbooks to stadiums. Stadiums are already the home to live sports and bring in thousands of fans every game for competition and new experiences. Opening a sportsbook within the stadium walls helps add to that experience, allowing fans to place wagers while watching a game live, further opening the doors to a new audience for sportsbooks, and creating a destination for fans who might not ordinarily visit a stadium. This model has exploded in Arizona with eight of the ten licenses set aside for sporting teams and venues already claimed. Arizona closed out December of 2021 with more than $499 million in wagers and $1.744 billion in its first four months of sports betting launching, according to the AGA.
Also, bettors can now place bets on their phones from home in a fully integrated experience that is as engaging as going to a live match or sportsbook. As of 2021, eighty-seven percent of bets nationwide came from mobile bettors and drove eighty-three percent of revenue, according to the AGA.
Fubo is one company that wants to interact and engage that massive, mobile centered audience. According to Scott Butera, President of Fubo Gaming, “We are seeing that fans increasingly want more personalization and engagement. Watching sports is no longer enough - fans want to feel as though they are part of the action. With this in mind, Fubo has developed holistic experiences in which fans can watch the sports they love and wager on them within a single ecosystem.” FuboTV integrates the company’s live streaming options with their sports betting app and gives fans the ability to instantly view live odds and statistics based directly on what they are streaming. “As we further integrate wagering into the FuboTV platform, we’ll create even more immersive, engaging, and personalized experiences that turn passive viewers into active participants,” says Butera.
With so many options now available to new and experienced bettors, operators will have to look for the best way not just to attract gamers but to engage them and improve their fan experience.
Hear more about the intersection of sports betting and the fan experience from Arizona Cardinals’ Owner and President Michael Bidwill in his keynote conversation with AGA President Bill Miller at G2E 2021.