Online betting and in particular, mobile betting have become huge over the past 10-15 years. With the introduction of smartphones, a whole new generation of sports fans had the ability to place a bet on games at the tip of their fingers.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest tech advancements over the years and how they’ve gone hand-in-hand with mobile betting.
Smartphones
By far the biggest tech advancement that has allowed for the explosion of mobile betting is smartphones. There’s some debate over exactly when the first smartphone was released; technically you can go all the way back to 1992 when IBM released the first touchscreen phone – the IBM Simon. However, most people would agree that the release of the first iPhone by Apple in 2007 was the watershed moment.
The iPhone was the first mainstream phone that came with a highly advanced touchscreen with many innovations as well as full internet capability via the Safari browser. The sleek design, ground-breaking technology and already strong Apple brand made the iPhone a huge success from the start.
Since then, the smartphone market has grown bigger every year, with countless models available from the world’s biggest manufacturers. The ease-of-use and large touchscreen displays were perfect for allowing all manner of new experiences, including the ability to bet quickly and easily no matter where you are.
High speed network coverage
Another big tech advancement that has gone hand-in-hand with mobile betting is high speed network coverage. Mobile networks enabled users to get high speed internet without the need to be connected to wi-fi.
Starting with 2G, the first digital network, mobile network technology has advanced rapidly, going from 3G all the way up to 5G, with unprecedented speeds now available for mobile users.
There’s no doubt that high speed mobile networks have had a big impact on the popularity of mobile betting. Features such as live betting are highly dependent on having a high speed internet connection with little-to-no latency and that’s less of an issue now than ever before.
Mobile betting apps
It’s easy to assume that modern mobile apps have been around for as long as smartphones but that’s not the case. The app stores for Apple and Google respectively didn’t release until more than a year after the first iPhone was released in 2007.
Since they were first launched, the Apple and Google app stores have been enormously popular – leading to an explosion in new markets, such as mobile gaming, social media and not least – mobile betting. Apps allow for a much simpler and more streamlined experience when compared to traditional browser-based websites. This is particularly important for mobile betting app users, who often want to place or lay bets as quickly as possible.
It cannot be overstated how much of an impact mobile apps as a technology have had on mobile betting. Pretty much every major bookmaker now has its own app and many ads for betting sites now exclusively advertise the app itself.
Improved security
An often-overlooked tech advancement that enabled the growth in mobile betting is improved security. In the early days of online betting, there were plenty of scams going around, with users’ accounts being hacked and their money stolen. Thankfully, those days are long gone thanks to improvements in security technology.
In addition to encouraging people to use secure passwords, online betting companies also incorporate technology such as two factor authentication. 2FA has become a standard security measure for all types of online accounts, not just betting platforms. It ensures that the person trying to log into the account is the genuine owner of it by sending a one-time pin (OTP) to their mobile phone or email address.
Without the guarantee of security, it’s certain that mobile betting wouldn’t be nearly as big as it currently is.
Easy access to sports data
When it comes to improving your odds of winning on any particular bet, the more knowledge you have the better. The advent of the internet and smartphones in particular, have made it much easier to get access to the latest, high-quality data for any sport you could think of, like for UFC bets, for example.
Most betting platforms will now have huge amounts of data, on both their website and mobile apps, enabling users access to the most current trends and analytics for their favourite sport.
This easy access to sports data has definitely been a big factor in mobile betting’s popularity.
Online payment systems
Lastly, is online payment systems. The different online payment methods that consumers can choose from now make it very easy to deposit and withdraw money from betting accounts.
In addition to credit and debit card options, users can also use technology such as PayPal as well as eWallets and cryptocurrencies. This makes the overall experience of betting much faster and more convenient, something that’s always a big selling point for mobile users.
