It wasn’t all that long ago when betting on sports via an online website was considered to be a novelty. The first online sports bets weren’t played until the mid-1990s.
And look how far the industry has come since then. Technological changes come at you like a Gerrit Cole fastball. Blink and you’ll miss the latest innovation as it zips on by.
The old question about whether a top sportsbook had made the transition to the world wide web seems so 2007. Today, if you’re not doing everything on your phone, then what the heck are you doing?
When talking up the best sports betting sites in the industry, these days it’s all going mobile. What sports bettors want to know first and foremost is how good is their app?
Mobilizing Sports Betting
You shop with your phone. You check social media on your phone. You watch movies on your phone.
Why wouldn’t you place bets on your phone?
However, if you’re new to the sports betting world, perhaps you’re not familiar with mobile betting apps. No worries. Let’s talk about what you should seek out in a quality mobile sports betting app.
Compatibility Is All-Important
Like any relationship, at first the bells and whistles will be an attraction. It’s all sleek-looking and right away, you’re smitten.
But you know what’s going to keep you around and happy in the long haul? Compatibility. Without it, you’ve got nothing.
If that sweet-looking website doesn’t work on your iPhone, well, what good is it then?
You’ve got to do some research. True, these days the vast majority of mobile sports betting apps are compatible with both iOS and Android operating systems but that still isn’t 100 percent the case.
Before you sign up with any betting site, be certain that their system and your system are sympatico.
Is The Live Stream Flowing?
If you’re going to bet on sporting events while you’re on the go, you’re going to want to see them as well. That’s where live streaming is another vital part of the mobile app sports betting repertoire.
All of the top betting sites are live streaming events today. You have to ask yourself of a site that doesn’t live stream an abundance of events, are they really all that interested in acquiring you as a customer?
Is It Intuitive?
It’s Tuesday afternoon and you’ve got yourself a bear of a day at the office. The boss wants that report on the new account you landed by the end of the day. But there’s also an FA Cup fifth-round replay between Arsenal and Liverpool that’s about to kick off.
It’s the Gunners. It’s the Reds. It’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It’s Mo Salah.
Of course you’re watching. And for sure, you’re betting.
This is what a mobile device - and a discreetly-worn pair of wireless headphones weren’t meant to do.
One of the best elements of sports betting today are live or in-play wagers. This is where the marriage of live streaming and mobile wagering is a union made in heaven.
Previously, bettors could only get action before a game, or possibly at intermissions such as the end of quarters or halves.
Thanks to live betting, constantly-adjusting lines are available to wager on throughout the length of an entire game. The ease with which players can wager on live odds via mobile is unmatched, making this another feature of online betting that can’t be replicated by a land-based venue.
It will all go for naught, though, if that stream is choppy, wavy or downright frozen.
If your chosen betting house can’t deliver a smooth, easy-to-navigate mobile site, it isn’t much use to you if you want to get a quick bet down on which side will get the next corner kick in that FA Cup match you’re watching.
Mobile Is The Future . . . And The Future Is Now
Mobile isn’t where sports betting is going - it’s where it’s gone.
New Jersey handled 83 percent of all of its sports wagers last year via mobile device.
“This is a product that wants to live online, where a significant amount of its customer base wants to interact online, and it’s a product that frankly makes more sense online,” Chris Grove, a managing director with consulting firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, told the Wall Street Journal.
