Forbes – The recent round of match fixing allegations causing anxiety in European football circles is a reminder that sport betting has become a real problem child for the gambling industry.
Banned in most markets around the world, with the notable exceptions of the UK, France, Spain and Italy, it continues to be a huge illicit industry. According to sports data analysts Sportradar, worldwide sports betting revenues are now worth anywhere between $700-billion and $1-trillion a year, with only a tiny fraction of this amount passing through the coffers of national exchequeurs. About 70% of that trade is estimated to come from trading on soccer, especially in Asian markets, which are invariably the source of match fixing allegations.
Propelled by increasing Smartphone and Tablet use by gamblers and the creation of in-play betting markets, where punters can stake money on the action as it happens, betting has become a significant 2nd screen accompaniment to live sport around the world.
However until it becomes more widely regulated, legitimate commercial opportunities for sports betting remain on ice. Which is why it is timely that a new group of companies has arisen during the course of the last few years to try and disrupt the business model on which sports betting is based to make it more compliant with gambling regulations.
The first wave of new companies included Buddy Bet in Europe, which secured a $3-million funding round in April and the Silicon Valley based Social Bet Inc. Both have launched peer-to-peer social betting services, which as it suggests, enables gamblers to bet against each other as individuals rather than against a market of betting odds.
YouBetMe by Social Bet Inc was the first social bet app to hit the stores. The company describes it as a mechanism for “virtual handshakes”, on anything from World Series predictions, a round of golf with a friend, Dancing with the Stars winners, the arrival of the next royal baby, or the outcome of a beer pong game.
