The future of online sports betting in India is thriving with opportunities. Due to the growing popularity, the Indian government is believed to revise the gamlbing laws and make online gambling legal in India.
Sports betting in India is not something that just started. The rise of gambling in India can be traced back to the Mughal period.
As per a recent study, 80% of Indians have placed their money on sports betting once a year, Horse betting being the most popular, followed by cricket and hockey.
The online gambling industry in India is believed to hit the $1 billion benchmark by the end of 2021.
Due to the growing popularity of trusted sites for sports betting, and improved access to the internet across the remote corners, the gambling industry in India is attracting a diverse group of players from around the country.
Is Sports betting Legal in India?
According to the Public Gaming Act of 1967, all forms of gambling are considered to be illegal in India. However, that doesn’t stop people from exploring the magnitude of the online casino industry.
There are no hard-and-fast rules made around the legality of the online gambling industry. Since the Public Gaming Act of 1967 was purely based on land-based casinos, people across the country are reaping its benefits.
Despite the several grey areas, Indians are scoring big bucks by putting their money on the legal online sports betting sites.
Most of the Sports Betting & online Betting sites available in India are registered outside the country which gives players the confidence to bet on sports online that don’t fall under the country’s legal jurisdiction.
By downloading a betting app on their mobile, Indians can sign up and place their bet with a bookmaker who is based outside the country.
Unlike the land based casinos, where the players had to meet and trust on some shady bookmakers, at the online gambling site, they can deposit their money on a trusted platform with utmost security and transparency.
Factors Contributing To The Growth Of Online Sports Betting In India
Since the onset of lockdown in India because of the global pandemic, an average Indian is spending more than ⅓ of their active time on mobile phones and computers.
The pandemic further resulted in job loss for thousands, if not millions, of Indians. As a result, to relieve themselves from the growing stress and boredom, people started exploring the Internet.
Soon, Indians, who were unaware of the online casinos, came across sites and ads that promote online gambling. On average, 3 out of 10 people managed to make a fortune out of the gambling sites.
The pandemic undoubtedly snatched employment from many individuals. However, it also showed them the doors to the $72.02 billion gambing industry.
Best Sport For Online Betting In India
With popularity grew demand. To meet demand, more gambling websites based outside India opened their gates to Indians. There are now innumerable sites offering sports betting in India.
The sports betting websites now only allow people to place their bet, but also view and analyze the odds based on the previous winning information for a tailored approach.
Now, there are a plethora of sports betting options available from which players can choose. Though, there are three sports in particular which have faced a huge demand over the years. That is horse race, cricket, and football. No surprise here.
Online Cricket Betting
Indians are fanatics when it comes to cricket. From IPL to domestic games, there are a range of cricket leagues played in India that are followed by billions of people.
With multiple cricket tournaments played round the year, online cricket betting is not only an easy availability, but one of the most potential sports to place your bet.
Since Indians understand cricket better than any other sports, online cricket betting is on the rise.
IPL, full form Indian Premier League, is a 20 overs limited cricket tournament organized by BCCI and invested by sports organizations and magnates.
Till now, IPL is the most popular tournament for online sports betting in India.
Online Horse Race Betting
Horse race betting is one of the oldest forms of sports betting in India. Horse race betting was popular way before the inception of the Internet in India.
From the late 90s to 2019, the popularity of horse race betting started decreasing significantly. As the internet was made more accessible to millions of India, Horse race betting found a new life and has been thriving since then.
Online Football Betting
Football is one of the riskiest sports to place your bet. Though, that didn’t stop Indians from trying their luck.
The reason? Football is the second most popular sport in India after cricket. 155 million Indians watched the premier league and 37 million watched the UEFA EURO 2020.
Going by the numbers, the reason why football betting in India is so popular shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone.
Advantages Of Online Betting In India
India only has two states where land based casinos are legal, that are Sikkim and Goa. These restricted gambling to only a handful of Indians where the population is more than 1.3 billion.
Even though India has a long rooted history in gambling, the restrictions made it hard for people to reap its benefits.
As the internet became more popular among Indians, the demand for online gabmling started to grow in parallel.
Within a few years, online gambling in India faced a huge demand. The reasons are the advantages.
Unlike land based casinos, on online casinos like 22bet India, there are no geographical restrictions and are known to be more secure.
Being a diverse country, language barrier remained one of the major hurdles for people. For which, the online betting sites are now configuring their website to support multiple languages so that people from around the country can easily understand the content and navigate through the website to place their bet.
Wrapping Up
Moreover, due to the secrecy maintained in online betting, people from all segments of the society are believed to try their luck and skills in online sports betting.
