The sports betting sector has developed alongside a host of new technologies over the last twenty years. All the safe betting sites rely on technology developed by innovators and tech companies.
The rapid development of mobile technology, including the smartphone, and the spread of 4G around the world has enabled sports betting companies to provide ever more sophisticated mobile betting platforms and to offer mobile bettors the same user experience as desktop customers.
The tech world doesn’t stand still, of course, and that means new technology is constantly being developed. 5G wasn’t newly created in 2022 but this year has seen it begin to roll out widely across the world and that process will intensify in 2023.
Betting companies will have to respond to the possibilities and challenges of 5G. But what is that likely to mean for sports bettors?
Mobile Betting Popularity
In the last few years, mobile devices have overtaken desktop computers as the most common way that people access the internet, and although that trend has been patchy around the world, the betting sector has reflected the increasing supremacy of mobile internet use.
In most developed countries, well over half of all betting and gambling is carried out using mobile devices including smartphones, laptops, iPads and other media. The figures for mobile gambling across some of the major betting markets are detailed below:
- USA 70%
- UK 88%
- Europe 55%
Those figures are increasing particularly in areas of the world such as Africa, where mobile technology is spreading fast among a youthful population.
What is 5G
The 5G initials stand for Fifth Generation. This technology follows the 4G technology that was rolled out a few years ago and is the new standard for wireless internet connectivity.
This form of technology promises to be able to connect people, devices and objects, providing higher download speeds, ultra-low latency, a major increase in capacity and improvements in both performance and efficiency across all internet uses. The
5G rollout has reached hundreds of cities around the world, from the US to the Philippines and will continue into 2023 and beyond.
Advantages of 5G for Bettors
This new mobile technology holds a lot of promise for adding to our lives in a variety of areas, including betting on sport. Here are some of the main advantages that 5G could offer.
More Responsive Live Markets
Live betting is one of the fastest growth areas in the sports betting world, but it relies on the speed of internet connections. Often in-play bettors are left frustrated by the speed at which a market updates to reflect events on the field of play, which means they miss out on opportunities to make value bets.
With 5G technology, live betting markets can update much more quickly and bookmakers that continue to provide slowly changing market models will lose out to those that offer faster updates. The result should be an improvement and a boost to live betting for all bettors. You can always keep track of modern bookmakers that are quick to adapt to changing reality at Legalbet.
Better Live Streaming
Live streaming is the key to in-play betting. Although not all bookmakers offer live streaming, many do, but even if you are using a standard sports broadcast on your mobile, 5G technology should drastically reduce the delay time between an event taking place and its reaching your screen.
In some cases, several seconds delay can elapse in sports broadcasts, which can prove extremely frustrating. With 5G, mobile sports bettors may be able to respond to changing events in a game and to get their bets on more quickly.
Improved User Experience
For those using a mobile browser to access their preferred sports betting platform, 5G technology promises significant improvements to the user experience.
Mobile betting sites will be more sophisticated, capable of providing a more immersive betting portal and eventually offering VR or AR betting experiences. Banking should also be quicker, with faster deposit and withdrawal times, and live customer support should become more common.
Disadvantages
While 5G has a lot of promise, any new technology is likely to come with some problems, and there are a few potential issues with 5G rollout for betting customers.
Two Tier Betting
The most obvious disadvantage is that sports bettors who don’t have access to 5G capacity are likely to be at a disadvantage, particularly when it comes to live betting when moving fast is essential to beating the crowd. The emergence of two-tier betting will present a challenge for betting companies in ensuring that sections of their customer base do not lose out.
Technological Troubles
It is also possible that, as 5G rolls out, there will be short term problems and variations in the quality of the 5G betting platforms provided by bookmakers, although this should improve with time.
Gambling Harm
Faster betting markets and access to betting opportunities that come with 5G could also make it easier for customers to develop a gambling problem. That is why it is essential that regulators around the world put more pressure on sports betting companies to introduce proactive ways of protecting their customers and intervening at the first sign that a bettor is displaying problem gambling habits.