When it comes to placing any sort of wager, the easiest and most-convenient way of doing so is online. This prevents you from needing to physically travel to a location, allowing you to stay in the comfort of your own home. With the ability to connect your payment method directly to a mobile application, you won’t even need to worry about having cash or a card handy when placing your wager.
All of these things help make mobile betting so successful. When it comes to sports betting, the logic remains the same, but there are few states that actually allow residents to place sports wagers via mobile app.
One state that does allow mobile sports betting is none other than New Jersey, effectively the sports gambling headquarters of the East Coast. Not only does New Jersey permit sports wagers to be placed via mobile app, but more than 80% of all bets placed throughout the year in the state were done online.
That’s certainly an astounding figure when you consider the state had more than $300 million in placed bets throughout the year at NJ Sportsbooks. New Jersey’s open stance on mobile sports betting likely was a direct contributor as to why March Madness was so successful for the state.
Another factor that is driving mobile sports betting is the evolution of smartphones. With today’s technology, you’re considered out-of-date if you don’t own some form of smartphone today. That means that most people, even younger children at times, have access to a smartphone that they can pull out at any time.
With the ability to place a bet anywhere (within the state), it makes a user much more likely to actually place a bet than if they had been required to physically visit a casino or related establishment to do so. This makes it crucial for sportsbook operators to find a way to accept wagers via mobile app, as this allows nearly everyone access to it.
There is no doubt that mobile sports betting is beneficial to sports betting as a whole, but there are certainly obstacles that stand in the way. Most states that do legalize sports betting have done so in a limited capacity, restricting wager placement to in-person, physical locations only. Some of these states plan for future expansion into mobile betting in the future, but don’t have the resources to deal with it right now.
Another important obstacle is that the mobile app needs to be able to read where a user is physically located. As the legality of mobile sports betting depends upon which state you’re in, the app needs to determine if you’re actually in that state when trying to place a bet. Sportsbook operators have come up with a few ways of doing so, like GeoComply, but there is always the possibility that someone may find a way to trick the system.
While mobile sports betting might not be fully accepted, there is certainly a gigantic market for it. As more states gravitate towards legalization, you can expect to see them open up to mobile sports betting some period after.
