The global sports betting market has been rising steadily for a while now, and in the period between 2022 and 2027, it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.23%. The market was also highly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which made people from all corners of the world rethink their habits and start finding new sources of home-based entertainment. Even though sports betting has spread worldwide, there are some countries where it’s particularly popular:
Poland
Since sports betting is the only type of legal online gambling in the country, many Polish gamers focused their attention on a variety of popular sports categories. However, football has been particularly adored by the Poles, which is another important factor that contributed to the rise of the sports betting market in the country.
To be more precise, almost half of the adult population is interested in football, while 25% of them regularly watch football matches. Therefore, it is no surprise that half of the bets placed in the country are on football. Since punters are always on the lookout for reputable operators, they often turn to websites like Legalne-obstawianie.pl where establishments are professionally vetted and where they can read honest feedbacks about the most popular providers available.
United Kingdom
Even though sports betting had been restricted in the United Kingdom until 2005, today, it is home to some of the leading online bookies. In fact, it is so popular that you can find a physical shop on most high streets dotted all over the British Isles.
Moreover, UK-based bookies are considered to be among the most reputable ones in the world, thanks to the strict gaming rules and regulations in place. The players have a fairly comfortable environment to bet in since they don’t pay any taxes on the winnings, and that has surely boosted the growth of the industry, which has now reached a revenue of £650 million, and 2.1 million consumers.
Japan
Japan has a very interesting landscape in gambling. The country has several types of publicly-run gambling, namely horse racing, bicycle racing, powerboat racing, and asphalt speedway motorcycle racing. Additionally there is pachinko which, along with horse racing, forms a massive gambling market.
Other types of gambling, including sports betting are unregulated and as a result, off-shore bookmakers make themselves available in Japanese and in most cases even in their local currency. There are quite a few Japanese bookmaker evaluation sites where people tend to rely on when finding popular and trustworthy betting sites.
France
France, too, just like the UK, does not collect taxes on the payouts won through sports betting but also through horse racing and online poker. The French are quite passionate about wagering, especially when it comes to football which is the choice of 57% of punters in the country.
Tennis comes next with 26%, followed by basketball which accounts for 8%. However, the people in France have the opportunity to wager on almost any sport they can think of since the authorities have granted licenses to many different online bookmakers, which gives the players a large number of reputable operators to choose from.
Italy
Sports betting is a huge component of the country’s gambling craze, and people are allowed to wager on all sorts of categories except dog racing which has been prohibited since 2002. The prohibition had very little impact on the growth of other sectors of the Italian gambling market, which reached a yearly revenue of €88 billion according to statista.com, and around 14% of the total amount comes from horse racing and sports betting.
Since the market turned out to be so lucrative, the country’s authorities are starting to take steps towards loser gambling restrictions, which include the process of issuing more betting licenses than before.
China
China is definitely one of the top countries when it comes to the number of sports enthusiasts, with a number of bookies scattered across the country. However, China strictly bans casino gambling in all regions except Macau and Hong Kong, which lead to Macau becoming one of the biggest gambling markets in the world, reaching the popularity of Las Vegas itself.
The annual revenue that comes from betting stands at around $50 billion, while the casinos based in Macau make at least $21 billion on their own. Hong Kong is home to a large number of casinos and bookies, all regulated by the Jockey Club companies, and together they generate a significant income for the region’s government.
Canada
Canada is home to a large number of sports enthusiasts, and hockey is definitely the most popular category among the locals. However, the majority of the nation is also interested in other American sports, and many different matches from the NFL have been showcased on television for decades.
In fact, next to their favorite team from the Canadian Football League, almost all the sports fans in the country also have at least one American club they’re passionate about. Even though sports betting is pretty popular in Canada, single-game gambling was not allowed until August 2021, which forced many players to place their bets through international operators.
Even though the online gambling industry is often subject to restrictions in different parts of the world, sports betting, as one of its largest components, has been growing tremendously for years. Not all nations are equally passionate about sports. However, those with a large number of enthusiasts tend to be more interested in wagering as well.
