It seems like the best young minds in the world gravitate toward working for the same tried-and-true companies — Seattle’s own Amazon and Microsoft, or the tech giants of Silicon Valley like Apple and Facebook. That’s fine and dandy, but we believe many could benefit from entering less crowded sectors that are ripe for disruption.
Many of these industries are well outside the social media or eCommerce space, but are “sleeping giants” regardless. One notable example is online sports wagering— which includes betting on UFC fights to football to table tennis and everything in between, all from the comfort of your phone or computer. The sector is a potential gold mine, one in which the right tech-savvy entrepreneur could strike gold, so long as they keep their eyes open.
Here’s our thesis why the industry is a golden opportunity at this very moment. And who knows, maybe you’re the one that’ll spearhead the disruptive changes that lay ahead:
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Loosening Restrictions From Government
Tech companies and their employees are no strangers to bunting heads with politicians and outdated laws. And as we’ve seen over the years with Uber or PayPal, with enough pressure, the government usually caves in to tech forces (with enough grease on their hands, of course).
Currently, the same obstacle — albeit a beatable one — stands in front of betting corporations. Twenty states have legalized the practice, but another 30 remain on the fence. But for how long?
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, state governments are facing massive, and we mean massive, budget shortfalls. Many states are looking to cut deficits through more tax dollars and sports betting is a potential money-grabbing opportunity. If legalized and regulated, states stand to gain hundreds of millions in tax revenue for the first time.
As they say, “desperate times equals desperate measures.” With their backs on the line, don’t be surprised a plethora of states — even those that are highly conservative — rush to legalize sports betting. If so, suddenly, the potential revenue pie balloons for companies operating in the whole space.
Gamifying Sports Betting
Ultimately, the biggest winners of the online gambling sector will be companies that can “gamify” the betting experience. Gamifying is where tech entrepreneurs have historically succeeded their way into riches.
Robinhood is a prime example. Investing into stocks has long thought to be “hard” and “confusing.” Welp, that was until Robinhood entered the market and built a user interface that mimics a social media app more than a traditional stock broker. Thanks to Robinhood’s simplifying tactics, a new-age of investors, mostly in their early 20s, have rushed into the world of day trading.
That’s the recipe for success for online betting corporations, too. Can they demystify the many sports betting barriers — the weird terminology, how to understand betting lines, differences between bet types — that scare away some users from even trying? If so, don’t be surprised to witness a huge rise in casual sports fans gambling. This too would grow the total addressable market of the entire industry.
Demand In Sports Betting Is On A Steep Incline
This one’s pretty straight forward: there’s a huge, pent-up demand for sports betting. Period. Recent stats such as these prove it:
- In offshore betting sites, the recent US Presidential Election broke one record after another for total wager handle.
- The state of New Jersey — which has the most open sports gaming laws in the country — has broken its record for sports betting handle four months in a row.
- The most recent NCAAF title game was the most bet-on college football game ever, despite being the least-watched championship on TV in the last twenty years.
If there’s a huge demand for it already, then a company or person needs to supply it. Don’t get us wrong there’s many entrants trying to do so currently, but none have eaten up market share like Netflix did in content streaming or DoorDash in food delivery.
So there you have it, folks. The future is insanely bright for the online betting industry. Instead of starting up or working for yet another social media company that sells ads, a more profitable opportunity would be sports betting.
