Betting on the outcome of sports and other events has been a popular activity across the world for millennia.
But since the development and popularisation of new technologies in the past 20 years, online betting companies have become more popular and more widespread than ever before due to it’s increased availability.
After all, betting online is more convenient, it’s more accessible and more flexible for the players.
It is, therefore, probably no surprise that the countries where online betting is most common, are the countries with the highest degree of technological advancement.
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the top 5 countries in the world where online betting is most popular.
Top 5 Online Betting Countries
U.S.A
For hundreds of years, gambling was frowned upon and more or less completely outlawed in the culturally conservative United States of America.
Gambling in America used to be limited to just a few legal states, such as Las Vegas in Nevada and New Jersey. But since the advent of online betting, more states have moved to liberalise gambling.
To this effect, the size of the US population, and the endless pursuit of entertainment and quick-wins of the American population has rapidly propelled the United States to become one of the biggest online betting economies in the world.
Statistics show that almost 70% of online betters in the world are based in the US, spending more than $35.5 billion a year.
Americans looking for betting sites (or “sportsbooks” as they call them over there) can use a comparison website such as SportsbooksOnline, a service that focuses solely on ranking and reviewing American sportsbooks.
Canada
According to a recent survey, almost one third of Canadians have placed a bet on sports in the past 12 months. This makes Canada one of the top 5 popular country for online betting in the world.
According to National Gaming Reports, Canadians annually spend over $4 billion on online bets. This means that Canada has a consumer spending on betting that’s higher than their American neighbors proportional to the size of the population.
Canadians have a plethora of options on hand when it comes to online betting sites.
To help Canadians find a legal online betting provider that accepts players from the Great White North, they can use sites like MyBettingSites Canada to compare and review the many betting sites available in the country
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is one of the biggest countries for gambling and online betting in the world. The popularity of betting in the UK isn’t a recent phenomenon, it’s been part of their culture for many years.
The people of the British Isles have always had an incredibly competitive and sports minded culture. Many of the most popular sports of our times originate or were popularised in the UK. This includes football, tennis, golf, rugby, cricket, and countless other sports.
As such, gambling is a common and widely accepted part of the culture, which is why almost everyone in the UK have placed a bet at some point in their life, and a big part of the population place bets on sports regularly.
When online betting began to become more common in the late 1990’s, the Brits were therefore quitely naturally some of the first to embrace this new form of betting. That is also why many of the most popular betting sites such as Betway, Bet365, 888Sport and many others originate in the UK.
In our day and age, the UK is still the leading online betting country in the world, and although the United States is rapidly catching up after liberalising their online gambling laws, it’s probably going to be a while before online betting in the states catch up to the UK in terms of popularity.
India
Estimated to become the most populous country in the world by 2027, India is one of the biggest up-and-coming gambling markets in the world that industry pundits are most excited about.
Betting in India is incredibly popular – despite the modern-day legal restrictions, betting has always been part of the Indian culture. Betting is even mentioned in some of the oldest Indian myths and epics.
The population of India are a sports-loving bunch who follow the nationally popular sports of cricket, kabaddi, football, field hocket and more, often with religious fervour.
Add to this that Indians love excitement (and the potential of winning money) and these are some of the main reasons why online betting is incredibly popular in the country.
The biggest obstacle holding back the betting market in India at the moment is the unclear legal landscape when it comes to gambling laws.
India has a very vague set of gambling laws that make it legal to use online betting sites in India according to the federal government, but prohibited in a handful of states that have more restrictive laws.
If the online betting laws of India were to be clarified, then the betting industry in the country would, very likely, be the biggest in the world.