The sports betting wars are heating up

The Future. Sports betting is booming — the American Gaming Association found that Americans wagered a record $3 billion in October 2020, and revenue was up more than 50% year-over-year in 2020. Now, it’s becoming a valuable tool in streamers’ armories as the streaming wars rage on. With sports betting breaking into the mainstream, will it become the next family bonding activity?

Virtual casino
Streaming services are adding betting features to their sports feeds:

• Disney partnered with ESPN to move into sports betting.
• FuboTV launched an integrated live bet platform where users can monitor live betting data on a second screen.
• SLING TV launched an integrative betting platform with DraftKings.

And, global sports streaming platform DAZN has been building out its sports betting talent.

All bets on betting
Some saw Disney’s venture into sports betting as counterintuitive to the company’s family-friendly image. But now, with sports betting legalized and getting increasingly popular, other streamers are getting into the (very lucrative) game.

Mike Berkley, Chief Product Officer of FuboTV, explained their rationale: “Sports fans have been unofficially making bets with their friends and family as they watch the game for decades.”