The numbers are huge in both the online and offline worlds of sports betting, with some of the largest betting firms boasting hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide. Sports betting accounts for 30 to 40% of the worldwide gambling business, which also includes lotteries, casinos, poker, and other forms of entertainment. Every year, it is believed that over half a trillion euros (about €500 million) is placed on wagers all over the world.
All sports now have betting, and emerging categories like eSports are seeing the most growth in terms of player involvement, audience, and betting. However, there have always been a few titans that account for the majority of the worldwide sports betting industry, and while numbers vary by nation, these are the most popular sports to bet on:
Football
Soccer is the most popular and largest sport on the planet, so it’s no surprise that it’s at the top of the list. While betway.com.gh sports betting offers opportunities for multiple sports, football/soccer happens to be the most popular. Horse racing used to be the most popular, but in-game betting and early cash outs have transformed football betting into a monster. Every year, it is believed that over £1 billion is wagered on football in the United Kingdom. It’s difficult to obtain precise figures for the worldwide market due to various unregulated marketplaces, but with viewing counts in the hundreds of millions for major events, the real amount of betting in football must be immense.
The only nations where soccer isn’t the most popular sport are the United States, where the NFL reigns supreme, Australia and New Zealand, where rugby reigns supreme, and Canada, where hockey is the national sport.
Horse Racing
Horse racing has long been associated with gambling, and it was the most popular sport to wager on. Horse races are among the biggest sporting events, and with large prize money comes big audiences and big bettors. It’s still a worldwide powerhouse and one of the only sports you can bet on 24/7 across the world. Horse racing betting is believed to be worth more than €100 billion each year. Surprisingly, Japan leads the market, followed by the United Kingdom and Australia. In the United Areas, horse racing is also big, and with betting becoming legal in some states, it may be a sleeping monster.
Tennis
Tennis is the third most popular sport to bet on in the world, which may come as a surprise to many. Live / in-play betting began with bets on who would win a set; today you may bet on who will win a game; the sheer number of possibilities makes tennis a particularly high-frequency betting sport. Tennis draws also make it an easy low-odds bet; for example, you may have Federer or Nadal facing an outsider in the first few rounds, and considering that the top three have dominated the sport for 20 years, they seldom lose to an outsider. Live betting, on the other hand, has been a key driver in the enormous increase in tennis betting.
NFL
With the legalization of internet betting in the United States, American Football is set to be a huge sport betting winner. The NFL and its championship game, the Super Bowl, are watched and gambled on across the world, and the betting sector can only expand from here.
Golf
Golf has been one of the most popular sports bets in recent years. With 78 players on the course at any given time and a variety of betting types, it’s easy to understand why this game is so popular with gamblers. Big tournaments last three days, whereas majors go four days; combine this with a large number of players on the field, and you have many more opportunities, odds, and unpredictable outcomes than in other sports.
With many new nations coming through the ranks of the game, rugby union has been a significant climber in the betting rankings. There are currently 30 rugby-playing countries in the globe, with 20 of them qualifying for the 2019 World Cup, the largest rugby tournament in history.
Rugby
Besides the World Cup, the Home Nations in the Southern Hemisphere and the Six Nations in Europe are the two major yearly sporting events on which people wager. Then there’s the Super Rugby League, England’s Premiership, France’s Top 14 and the Champions Cup for the best European teams, all of which attract tremendous betting numbers.
Rugby was one of the most popular sports to bet on last year due to in-play betting in a game with so many variables.
Boxing/Mixed Martial Arts
Boxing has long been associated with wagering, and while it has been surpassed by football, tennis, and golf, it remains a popular sport. Although mixed martial arts (MMA) is a relatively young sport, the UFC’s popularity has grown with time.
eSports
eSports is the fastest-growing sport and sports industry in terms of betting volume. eSports’ growing popularity is making bookies like Betway to react rapidly so as not to risk falling behind. While virtual racing has been around for a while, other virtual sports have surged in popularity in 2024, with all of the main bookmakers now giving various eSports match betting options. The sports betting industry’s income is quickly increasing as a result of this expanding volume.
What makes a good betting sport?
There are a lot of factors that go into making one of our favourite sports to bet on, as you can see from our list of the very greatest sports to bet on. However, as a brief review, here are some of the most significant factors we look at in terms of strategy and objective benefits one sport may have over another.
Market variety
More markets not only offer more betting options, but they also allow bookmakers to be more creative and present punters with different perspectives on their favorite sports. There are also a variety of elements to consider, such as the amount of games and tournaments available, as well as the marketplaces available for each game. Extra credit is also given for creativity.
Availability
This is similar to market variety, but on a simpler level. How many operators specialize in that sport? Is it widely available, or do you have to look for more specialized options? Both can be excellent, but having what you believe to be the greatest sport to bet on at your preferred bookie is quite useful. After all, popularity plays a big role in our top two choices.
Quality of odds
Of course, various bookies including Betway have varying levels of odds quality – we should know because we’ve done our own odds comparison. When we talk about the greatest sports to bet on, we’re talking about how generous the odds are for that particular sport. Football, for example, offers very excellent odds, as do major events like pay-per-view boxing.
However, before betting on Golf, you must have complete information about the sport since it is slightly complex. You can get relevant and authentic information on Golf on The Left Rough.
