Online sportsbooks have taken the world of betting by storm. For the most part, they’ve completely supplanted land-based bookies, as they offer the same quality service, but make the whole process much easier to access.
Due to the success of online bookies, a lot of new bettors have been popping up with increasing frequency. These newbies may not know a lot about sports betting, but they most certainly are willing to learn. So, let us start with the most basic of basics; what are the most popular sports to bet on?
Football (Soccer)
Whether you know it as football, or as soccer, the sport is certainly something you are aware of. How can you not be? After all, it is the number one most popular sport in the world, with more than 3 billion fans backing it up. Every year, hundreds of millions of pounds are wagered on football in England alone. You can imagine what the number is, if we account for worldwide wagers.
Horse Racing
Since the Paleolithic era, horses have been a companion to humanity. And some believe that, it was in that era that people began to race horses. Today, of course, horse racing is a lot safer than it once was. But, it still remains one of the most popular sports to wager on – with tournaments like the American Triple Crown, the English Grand National, and the Dubai Derby being particularly popular in sportsbooks.
Basketball
Created by the Canadian-American physician, James Naismith, basketball has taken the world in the over-a-century that it has been around. Certainly, it wasn’t always so popular. However, the 90s rise of stars like Michael Jordan made the game attain an international appeal. Today, there are over 2 billion fans watching basketball, many of which have wagered on the sport at least once.
Cricket
Another British sport, this one is actually the United Kingdom’s national game. However, it is actually most popular in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Regardless of where it is popular, the point is that it is; in fact, it is the 2nd or 3rd most popular sport in the world, with 2 billion + fans. Of course, many of these fans wager on the game frequently, which is why most online bookies pay close attention to cricket odds.
Tennis
Tennis may not be as popular to watch as some of the sports we’ve listed here, but it is certainly comparable in betting volume. The reason for this is simple; tennis is not a seasonal sport. Major tournaments happen all year round, making it a lot easier to wager on the game. Of course, this attracts a lot more bettors.
Honorable Mentions
In this final segment, we’d like to talk about some sports that may not be as popular as the ones discussed, but still get a lot of attention. For example, motor sports, like Formula 1 and NASCAR are incredibly popular in the betting circuit.
Another betting market worth bringing up is eSports. Video games are a growing industry, and betting on professional gaming is becoming quite a huge trend as well. Seeing odds for video game-related bets is not uncommon at some of the most popular online bookies.
