The sports betting market in the United States will continue to expand in 2020 as there are a number of states who have already legalised sports betting and are waiting to launch live sports betting operations. There are also multiple states that are in serious discussions about passing new sports betting laws.
The legalisation of sports betting in America has a number of positives. It allows bettors to now place their bets at legalised betting sports instead of having to deal with unlicensed and unscrupulous sportsbooks.
The legalisation of sports betting also allows state governments to collect sports betting taxes and boost their state budgets.
While there are a lot of positives, there are a couple of growing concerns. The first and foremost is the threat to the integrity of each sport as match fixing remains one of the biggest concerns. One concern that has surfaced in recent months is the amount of flak that players have to take from sports bettors when they don’t perform as per expectations.
Sports bettors place lots of money on their wagers believing that things will go their way. If it is a team sport and the team loses, they usually take to social media to bash the team and the players involved. When it is an individual sport like golf, boxing, tennis or mixed martial arts, sports bettors who are at the stadium tend to start heckling the player/fighter even before the match/fight comes to an end.
Players and teams have always been heckled but in recent months it has increased significantly and many believe it is directly tied to the legalisation of sports betting. While this cannot be quantified at the moment, it is obvious that sports bettors who are ending up the losing side need an avenue to vent their frustrations. This is usually directly channelled to the team or player they have backed.
One great example of this is when MMA fighters step into the Octagon. When a UFC betting favourite starts to lose, the boos and heckles from the audience increases significantly and it can have a massive impact on the fighter. It doesn’t just stop here as bettors usually take to social media to let the fighter know that they put money on them and were let down.
There is no doubt that both teams and fighters are feeling addition pressure but so far no steps have been taken to address this growing concern.
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