With Gen Z increasingly dominating all consumer activity across industries and becoming the absolute target market of most businesses, we have a new generation of sports bettors coming at the front.
The sports bettors of tomorrow are nothing like the sports bettors of the past -or even of the present. The generation that is “always connected,” continuously “online,” and that is so tech-savvy is producing a new type of punter, upon which all bookmakers and betting sites worldwide need to invest. A kind of punter who is more likely to search for crypto betting sites or popular dota 2 gambling sites, instead of plain bookies. And as such, betting markets, offerings, and services need to be reconfigured and readjusted to suit tomorrow’s sports bettors.
Let’s see some of the most crucial things that make up the sports bettors of tomorrow.
Lower Interest in Live Sporting Events
While previous generations, or even Millennials, enjoy watching live sports games at home, outside, or even on portable devices, the new sports bettors do not fancy live events.
Attending or even watching live events means taking up much of their time, which they really don’t want to do. They prefer watching clips, highlights, replays, or short videos of games on social media. This is the way that they are consuming sports content.
There is Greater Interest in Game Reviews by The Athletes Themselves Than by Sports Analysts
The new generation of sports bettors is not likely to sit and watch (or even read thoroughly) a game analysis made by experts. They prefer to watch interviews, reviews and evaluations of any game by the players themselves and generally spend more time reading or watching what athletes say, than following sports’ analysis gurus.
They follow athletes on social media and so they prefer to read any discussions or posts made by these athletes who have first-hand experience over the actual event.
Betting is a Form of Engagement
While sports betting has always been a way for fans to engage more with a sports event, the more casual punters saw it as a means of making money from their love for sports. But betting is purely a form of engagement for the new generation of bettors.
They don’t like to just sit and watch an event. They seek engagement, which brings more substantial experience. And the most important expression of this kind of engagement comes from sports betting. Managing an event is now replaced with having an interest in how the event progresses and unfolds.
The second most popular form of engagement for the new generation of sports bettors is the acquisition of digital assets related to sports, such as NFTs, etc.
Bettors Are More Active Sports Fans
In the past, there was a more apparent distinction between sports bettors and sports fans. However, bettors are not distinguished from fans as the new generation is taking over. It is the same people who love sports. They are more active: they buy more sports-related merchandise (such as teams’ jerseys and gear), they are more willing to pay for streaming services to have access across devices, and they are willing to pay premium prices when attending events and so on.
Growing Preference For eSports
We can’t overlook the dynamic force that comes with eSports and their growing popularity worldwide. And this continuously spiking popularity is predominantly owed to the new generation of sports fans and bettors.
The new generation is not only interested in the traditional sports. It shows particular interest in competitive video gaming, closely follows tournaments, competitions, and leagues that are within the boundaries of eSports, and is more likely to be interested in finding sites that give free CSGO skins for example or csgo cases. DOTA 2, League of Legends, Call of Duty, CS:GO and Fortnite are actually among the most favorite eSports and they are thriving among the younger fans and the soon to be sports bettors!
These are the basic characteristics that define the new generation of sports bettors – the punters of tomorrow. Bookmakers and betting sites should take these very seriously, if they want to be able to sustain the explosive growth in sports wagering that has emerged over the past few years.
