JMP Highlights Importance of In-Play Betting as Revenue Growth Driver

Considering that nearly 40 US states offer legal sports betting, millions of Americans can place bets on their favorite sport and team. The 2018 repeal of PASPA started the exponential growth of the betting vertical and its popularity hasn’t halted since.

The expansion of mobile betting helped grow the number of betting markets with more bettors exploring options beyond the traditional win or lose. Such options include parlay bets and in-play betting, delivering engaging experiences and appealing to seasoned bettors and sports aficionados alike.

In-Play Betting to Propel the Growth of the Sports Vertical
Now, a newly released report suggests that the future growth of the betting sector across the country may depend on in-play betting. But what’s in-play betting? Placing a wager on the outcome of an event requires the event to be completed, whereas in-play betting markets enable bettors to wager on different aspects throughout a live event that can be a soccer game, a golf tournament or a horse race, for example.

Jordon Bender and Eric Ross, two expert analysts with JMP Securities, recently quoted by Next.io, spoke about the importance of in-play betting for the future growth of the sports betting revenue across the US. The experts acknowledged the solid expansion of wagering across the country.

Ross and Bender, focusing on the topic in a note to investors, predicted that further investment in in-play betting will likely be “lifting of all boats within the industry.” Moreover, the JMP Securities analysts predicted in-play betting to expand at a 31% compound annual growth rate through the end of the decade.

The analysts added: “We believe the investment community understands in-play betting at a high level, yet we lay out the underlying drivers and companies that will increase US in-play betting to a $14 billion revenue opportunity by the end of the decade.”

Success Is Certain Unless Regulations Impact In-Play Betting
Also referred to as micro-betting, in-play betting is expected to become one of the fastest-growing segments in the US market, the experts suggested. That is the case considering that in-play bets do not fall under the scrutiny of the gambling regulators and face restrictions. “The threat of legislative oversight will always hang over the industry but is at no higher risk than pre-game betting, in our view,” the JMP Securities analysts revealed.

Currently, two major betting operators hold a significant share of the market in the country. The duopoly model is led by FanDuel and DraftKings, which combined are responsible for approximately 70% to 80% of the share of the market.

According to the two experts, operators investing in in-play betting may reap benefits in the future. They spoke about DraftKings’ efforts in that vertical, pointing to the acquisition of Simplebet and Sports IQ Analytics. While JMP Securities analysts acknowledged that FanDuel’s efforts within the in-play betting vertical were not as significant, they pointed to the operator’s parent company, Flutter Entertainment, which has recognized the key role in-play betting plays.