Sports betting has recently been legally introduced in 21 states of the United States. And now, amateur sports bettors all across the country are expected to place bets on the Summer Olympic games through different mobile betting platforms. They will mostly be betting on the gold medal tally of the US Olympics teams.
According to experts, professional bettors do not usually place wagers on the Olympic Games. This is because it is often difficult to estimate the performance for team games like soccer and basketball. After all, the teams include players who do not usually play together. Moreover, this year with Covid-19 cases still being reported in the Olympics village, any athlete could drop out any time, and veteran bettors are not ready to take that risk.
Head of the Tokyo Olympics Committee, Toshiro Muto, has even publicly stated that there is still a possibility of the ongoing Olympics being canceled if there is a rise in Covid infections. Serious gamblers may make some bets on US team sports like basketball and soccer, but they are not too excited about the Olympics as a betting opportunity. Bettors feel that there are too many emotions and feelings of national pride surrounding the Olympics that make it difficult to make sound financial decisions. Most professional bettors in America are awaiting the football season to start betting more actively.
According to the latest gambling news, the American Gambling Association has reported that one out of every 10 Americans will bet on at least one Olympics event. This will place the Olympics almost at par with the Super Bowl as far as betting volume is concerned. But bookies are not too sure about these reports. As a result, they are not expecting to earn much from Olympics-related sports betting.
Sportsbook owners in Las Vegas have also not reported too much interest in betting on the Olympics. They feel that even the bets that are being placed are mostly from amateurs and recreational sports bettors.
Some Las Vegas sportsbook owners are so sure about low interest in the Olympics that they encourage their employees to use up their vacation days during this lull period before football season starts full force.
DraftKings, one of the biggest sports betting online operators in the USA, is also trying to encourage bettors to vote on the Olympics with odds on popular team events like soccer and basketball and attractive odds on some more offbeat events like badminton, handball, and many more.
In the UK, too, the Olympics is not expected to generate too much revenue. Experts claim that only when an athlete is chasing their third or fourth medal does it become a matter of national interest involving lots of betting.
Even in Greece, in the ancient days of the Olympics, people have placed bets on the participants. So, betting on the Olympics is not a new practice. But it remains to see whether this practice will gain popularity in future Olympic games as sports betting, in general, grows in the United States.
