Sports betting is a popular source of entertainment around the globe. A study in the UK shows that over 70% of adults who follow sports must have placed bets on their favourite teams at some point. More so, the fact that it’s a legal practice further promotes its growth in society.
In recent years, we’ve seen the emergence of new sports betting platforms – most of them being reviewed by betting.net. While we’ve seen a lot of innovations in how games are played with the improvement of gamer’s security and overall gaming experience, we can’t help but imagine things getting even much better.
To achieve this, we must turn to other modern technology and explore the possibilities. Blockchain technology seems to get the go-to model as it’s got everything the sports betting industry needs to improve a player’s gambling experience further. Let’s look at ways the gambling industry can benefit from integrating blockchain technology to run its operations.
Benefits of Integrating Blockchain Technology in Sports Betting
The intriguing thing about blockchain technology integration is that it doesn’t only serve the client side; it also helps the service providers optimise some of the operations that would’ve been tedious to handle. More so, it cleans up the overall echo system of the underlying industry (in this case, sports betting), making it more understandable to third-party individuals.
Security
We often hear of cases where a client’s data is lost because of a malfunction on the side of the sports books. Also, there have been recorded instances relating to identity and credit card theft.
While the affected bookmakers should take the blame for leaving their systems vulnerable, perhaps there’s a better alternative like securing clients’ data on the blockchain network. With blockchain technology, clients’ data can be protected cryptographically and not in the old way where things are stored on an in-house server.
Transparency
One of the benefits of integrating blockchain technology that seems tailored for the gambler is transparency. We often hear complaints about how AI simulated games are rigged to favour the bookmaker, not to mention excessive odds manipulation to underpay a winner.
With blockchain technology, most of the processes involved in the gameplay are available for third-party auditory – also, the transaction records can be stored in the blockchain. More so, the need for a client to reveal their details before they can gamble becomes irrelevant, allowing players to enjoy maximum anonymity if they wish.
Smart Contract
Smart contracts end unguaranteed transactions regardless of the industry where it is applied. Integrating smart contracts into gambling not only reduces the time a gambler waits for payouts and ensures the payout.
With smart contracts, a gambler always gets paid for their winnings. The sportsbook automatically adds the corresponding winning amount in the smart contract – the issue of payout delays for any reason ceases to exist.
Payout
Blockchain technology is the foundation on which cryptocurrencies are built. When fully integrated into the sports betting industry, clients can’t only deposit and withdraw with crypto; they can further decide if the crypto should be spent directly in purchasing something or transferred to an exchange to be converted to fiat. Also, the payments through crypto allow clients to enjoy complete anonymity regardless of the amount they’re transacting.
Accessibility
While the people who already have gambling legalised in their countries can participate in sports betting seamlessly, the same can’t be said for people whose governments consider gambling prohibited. However, the introduction of blockchain technology triggers a decentralised environment allowing gambling enthusiasts from anywhere in the world to get involved.
This is possible because blockchain technology ensures the anonymity of its users; thus, any bookmaker can offer its services to anyone around the world. While many think blockchain and decentralisation will promote worldwide gambling, this isn’t exactly true because people benefiting from blockchain technology through other industries won’t be given a gambling account by default.
At any rate, the need for blockchain in sports betting pretty much sums up why the practice is seen as a vice in morally conservative societies.
