Football, the most popular sport on the planet, comes with its own caveats. Being the most popular sport means that you are always in the limelight. This can be a good and bad thing, depending on the point of view. Most of the time, it isn’t a bad thing. But, when money is involved, things change immediately.
Sports betting has been a part of football culture for as long as football existed. Betting on who will win a match and which player will perform better on an individual level has always been popular. With online sports betting, the world of football shifted a little. It should be noted, however, that gambling is highly addictive and that people often indulge in it far too much. That being said, addiction is not a tiny issue and sports betting being available to everyone complicates things, for the sport and the individuals. Here is how online sports betting has changed the world of football.
Everyone Can Bet
Well, almost everyone. Everyone over the age of 18 or 21, depending on which is the legal age for gambling in your country, can place a bet online. That means once you’re done with high school, basically, you can legally enter the world of online betting. Some do it with the help of their older friends. This can be good, if someone wants to try betting or does it occasionally, once a month, for example.
But, it can also be a bad idea, because unrestricted access to gambling can lead to addiction. Being addcited to gambling can have bad consequences for one’s life, from bankruptcy, losing one’s family, to suicide, even. It can also be used to instruct younger audiences on the dangers of gambling, as well as educate people about the mathematics of gambling.
Football is Even More Exposed to Attention
Football, being famous as it already is, has been a part of every brick and mortar bookmaker’s repertoire forever. With online sports betting becoming widespread, more people know about football betting and can do it without having to even leave their houses, or while they are traveling to work. This can be a good thing, but having more popularity for the wrong reasons, according to critics, is not a desirable way of being advertised. Albeit, some sports and personalities in sports have become very popular due to their notoriety, rather than their fame.
Everything’s at the Palm of Your Hand
Given that everyone can see the results of a match in seconds, not even following a match closely, means that people often just leave a screen on, of a site which has live score updates, and not even watch matches as they used to. This can hurt broadcasting and streaming companies, as well as the social lives of some punters/fans.
Online sports betting has changed football, but not by much.
