How to start a sportsbook business?

The sports betting industry is growing internationally. 2023 has been an important year since sportsbooks became legal in various markets. At the same time, the revenue in the online sports betting market has reached $43.55 Billion. The revenue from the global sports betting industry is projected to grow at an astounding 9.94% growth rate. So today is the best time to join the sports betting market and start your sports betting business.

Sportsbook software has been an important part of online casinos since they drive around 40% of their monthly revenue. According to Statista, the revenue in the global online sports betting market will reach $63.62 billion by the end of 2022. Considering the sustained growth of the sports betting market, starting your own sportsbook will be a profitable undertaking. To find out how to start a sportsbook and make the best out of this venture, keep reading the article.

How can you start your sportsbook?

There are a few options for starting a sportsbook. You can become a bookie by starting from zero and doing everything yourself or using a white label solution or turnkey solution. 

• Self-service solution

In the case of a self-service sportsbook solution, you are following an approach where you have to develop sportsbook by yourself. In the best scenario, it gives you absolute independence – you are the owner of the platform and have a chance to make unlimited customizations. Meaning that you can create your unique UI/UX design for the website, build a bonus system according to your preferences, and have your own back-office. 

On the other hand, if you decide to create a self-service sportsbook solution, you have to pay a high price to hire software and web developers. Furthermore, this process might take too much of your time, and in the end, you may find out that it was an unprofitable venture. If you are not an experienced operator with a strong backup of long-term practice and involvement in the sports betting sector, this solution is not for you. 

• White label sportsbook and turnkey sportsbook

Instead, you might opt to contact a sportsbook solution provider and acquire their software for your sports betting platform. You can choose the second option and acquire the sportsbook software and platform via a white label solution. A white label allows you to create a sportsbook according to your needs. You can also get a sportsbook with a turnkey solution, which is customizable and saves you from most of the work. Upgaming can help in both of these cases. We offer turnkey sportsbook and white label sportsbook for our clients. These include access to Sportsbook, the iGaming platform, and many other products.

Operating your sportsbook will require various subsystems. Integrating payment options to allow players to deposit money into your online betting platform is the first priority. Next, you’ll need a robust bonus system with effective promotional tools to appoint free bets, deposit match bonuses, and other incentives to players. Afterward, you’ll need to source tools such as CRM software and affiliate systems for customer segmentation and trend analysis to create effective retention and acquisition campaigns. 

Your sportsbook will also need skilled personnel. No business can function without the right people. You need a customer service team that will help players with technical issues, marketers who help you to promote your online betting site, legal experts who ensure that your sportsbook is compliant with the local regulations and does not violate the rules of the given jurisdiction, and many other divisions.

We’ve discussed the two most effective solutions for acquiring sportsbook software – turnkey and white label. To find out more about the given topic, we recommend you to read the following articles: How to start sportsbook with turnkey solution in 2023 and How to start a sportsbook with white label solution in 2023.

Nonetheless, if you already have a platform, we can offer the sportsbook API integration. Sportsbook API is the tool that ensures the seamless and fastest integration of the sportsbook into your platform, whether it will be an online casino or sports betting site alone. To gain more information about this tool, read our article – what is sportsbook API.

What are the essential parts of the sportsbook software?

In order to launch your sportsbook, you need sportsbook software and a betting platform, which is quite complicated software, including risk management and anti-fraud system, payment system, bonus system, etc. Nevertheless, the most essential parts of the sportsbook itself are live events, pre-match events, tournaments, and the number of markets. Let’s discuss these elements to understand what they represent and how they comprise high-quality and successful sportsbook.

Live events

Live events are the most important part of the sportsbook, enabling players to bet on matches that are taking place at a given time. Thus, live betting occurs throughout the game. 

When making a choice, you must select the software provider that offers a rich amount of live events in their sportsbook solution. Bear in mind that before arriving at a final decision, it’ll be better to compare various sportsbooks from various providers, weigh the pros and cons of each one, and find out how many live events they offer.

Upgaming is a leading sportsbook provider incorporating +112,000 live events in its sportsbook software, giving your players multiple options to choose from and bet. 

Pre match events

Pre match events are organized before the beginning of the important match or tournament (for instance, the World Cup or UEFA Champions League). Here, unlike live events, players have more time to think, devise a preferred strategy, and make a rational prognosis about the probable outcome.

While live events are the most popular, pre match events are also an essential and indispensable part of the sportsbook. Your clients will have various preferences; some may feel more comfortable betting on pre-match events. Upgaming’s sportsbook includes more than 96,000 pre match events, giving you access to an unlimited number of matches and tournaments.

Sportsbook tournaments

 Sportsbook tournaments are competitions in which players bet on various sports events. Nonetheless, in such contests, users are not playing against the in-house bookmakers or traders. Instead, they play against each other. In general, the sportsbook tournament closes in several days. In such events, players try to guess the results of multiple games. One who correctly predicts the highest amount of likely outcomes of the games is the winner.

Amount of markets

Betting markets are another part you need to consider when planning to start an online sportsbook. There are many markets and wagers available for players. Different types of markets can be denoted by different names in various parts of the world. Furthermore, certain types of markets that are very popular in one country may not be available elsewhere. 

Also, it’s not only the types of markets that determine the quality of the sportsbook but the amount of them. In other words, the variety and the quantity of the markets shape the overall performance of your sportsbook. We have +5 200 betting markets in our software, covering + 140 types of sports. Thus, in case of choosing our sportsbook, you’ll have heaps of betting options available for your players.

What should you consider when choosing a sportsbook software provider?

Only a few sportsbook providers in the iGaming market offer high-quality sportsbook solutions to online casino operators. While each provider claims to have the best and leading sportsbook solution, you must carefully choose the most suitable option that offers the essential parts we’ve discussed above and provides all the features we will review below. 

Before you start researching the various sports betting platforms offered by providers, you have to define what is essential for you, your goals, and what you expect from the provider. Nonetheless, you should consider some very significant points before making a final decision. We’ve compiled a list of these points and questions that will help you to make the right direction. Below, you can see the outlines of the central questions you should ask the sportsbook solution providers before choosing one for your online casino.

Is the provider experienced in the market you plan to operate in? 

What you must seek in the sportsbook software are the sports types that are the most popular in the market you plan to enter. If the provider does not incorporate the sports types that are well-known and popular in your target market, then buying their sportsbook solution is a waste of time, money, and effort. 

You must ensure that sportsbook providers have practical knowledge of the specific markets you plan to enter. Meaning that they should offer payments, bonuses, and designs that are customized and adapted to the very same market. If you find such provider, you don’t need to worry about the painstaking process of making numerous changes to your sportsbook platform to re-adapt it to the requirements and trends of the desired market.

What type of sports do they provide?

The most popular sports in the iGaming industry are football, tennis, horse racing, American football, etc. But only these categories are not enough to comprise a sportsbook that will meet your business needs and the needs of your players.

The point is that sports betting websites can be accessed from everywhere. Your players come from various world corners with different backgrounds and preferences. While the most attractive option to bet for the average user can be football, you will also have players who prefer American football, rugby, netball, and so on. The rule of thumb implies that plenty of options are better for the satisfaction of your bettors.

Do they have esports and virtual sports?

Another big venue for players is esports. You should check out the list of games in the provider’s esports library and ensure that it includes names such as League of Legends (150 000 – 200 000 players/viewers live every second), Starcraft (170 000 viewers), Cs: Go (328 000 viewers on average), Call of Duty (77 000 viewers on average), Dota (66 000 viewers on average), Overwatch (12 268 viewers on average), etc. 

Esports is sometimes considered the future of betting due to its growing nature and popularity worldwide. In 2022, the global esports audience size equaled 532 million users tuning in to watch and play their favorite games. This number is predicted to increase and reach 640.8 billion in 2025. This is why having esports games in your sportsbook matters so much.

Virtual sports are also a part of sportsbooks. They are very simple and exciting to play. A virtual game is computer-generated software that imitates real-life sports. These games are fast, funny, and give quick results. Many players prefer to make simple bets and wait for the program to finish the game and deliver the final outcome. 

Do they have a team of in-house bookmakers?

The team of in-house bookmakers is composed of experts who analyze and set the market coefficients 24/7. Bookmakers accept and pay off bets on sports events at agreed-upon odds, which can change during every minute of the live events. So, why do you need in-house bookmakers for your sportsbook? Because, without them, your sportsbook business just won’t work – nobody will define the market coefficients, and only on the standard, pre-arranged odds your online sportsbook business will just fall off the cliff and experience failure. 

Bookmakers do more than just predict the outcome of certain events. They must alter the market coefficients in favor of the business. If it’s not happening, then there will be nothing but a fiasco – the situation in which there are two static categories – losers and winners, and if we are on the same page, then you don’t really want to be a loser. 

Are their odds competitive?

Better odds mean more loyal customers. They will bet on your sportsbook platform more frequently if they see that you are offering higher odds. This is why your odds must be competitive. 

To demonstrate it simply, let’s say that the odds that team X will win the match is equal to 1.60, but on your competitor’s betting site, the odds for the winning of the same team is 1.80. If that team wins the match, the players who place bets on the same outcome on your competitor’s website will win more than players who placed the same bet on your site. This means that the odds of your sportsbook provider aren’t very competitive with other providers’ market coefficients. If such a situation prevails, you will lose your clientele in the long run, and your players will also move to other betting sites. 

Needless to say, this is a very simple picture, and in reality, everything is more complex. But, still, all of it depends on the bookmakers and how they set and change the market coefficients. Therefore, be cautious and choose the sportsbook solution provider that offers competitive odds.

What additional features does the sportsbook have?

Sportsbook software includes many elements apart from the features we’ve discussed above. You can still run sportsbook without them, but they provide a significant competitive advantage. These elements are bet builder, bonus system, payment system,  risk management tools, sportsbook API integration, and other marketing tools such as CRM software. Let’s discuss each of these items below.

Bet Builder

Bet Builder is a software incorporated in a sportsbook that enables users to create customized bet with multiple markets from the same event.  So, your bettors will be able to simultaneously bet on which player will score and how many corners there will be in the same game. The essence is that it lets users to combine different betting markets into one bet.

Bonus system

A bonus system is one of the crucial elements of a sportsbook that helps you to retain your customers. Every bonus system is supposed to have standard bonus types within it, but what you should look for is the possibility of customized configurations. In other words, you should be able to create unique bonus types only you can offer to the players. It will significantly affect your retention rate and increase the player’s loyalty to your sports betting site.

Bonuses, tournaments, and leaderboards are great incentives for players and can significantly increase your customer acquisition and retention rates. Therefore, you must carefully choose the sportsbook provider that offers the best solution with a rich and customizable bonus system and other marketing tools to help you to increase the performance of your betting site. In order to understand more about bonus systems, you can check the following article.

Risk management tools

Risk management tools and anti-fraud systems are the defensive walls of your sportsbook. Sports betting solution providers must offer a risk management system that monitors and tracks potential risks and fraud attempts. 

Fraud prevention and cybersecurity are the biggest concerns in the iGaming sector. Therefore, it should be your priority to acquire an anti-fraud system with modern AI tools. These tools quickly identify potential fraud attempts and send the information to you or your anti-fraud department. To understand more about the given topic, we recommend reading the article about Sportsbook risk management.

Standalone Back Office 

Why do you need a back office for your sportsbook? Because this is the most suitable and effective solution to oversee and manage your sportsbook operations from a single place. The back office is the core of your sportsbook business, giving you the unified foundation that lets you gather data and manage the software without requesting information from various places. 

It is effective and can spare your time and effort by letting you efficiently manage your sportsbook. For instance, you can manage your website design, set limitations on a player or group of players, control bonuses and design unique bonus types for loyal players, monitor the progress of your business, and get constantly updated reports.

Licensing

Every online Sportsbook Operator knows that the international legal environment is complex and subject to change. You must always be in accordance with legal requirements. Sportsbook operators must have licenses to be allowed to operate on the largest markets in the world.

Various online gambling licenses provide legal permission to serve international clients, including the Curacao gaming license, Malta gaming license, Isle of Man gaming license, Kahnawake gaming license, etc. You can read our article about iGaming licenses to get more information on that topic.

Frequently asked questions