David Purdum and Ryan Rodenberg, ESPN
Part 7 takes a deep gaze via several forward-looking vignettes into how certain technology may overlap with sports betting years from now.
In 2026, when North America hosts the World Cup, experts predict more than half of all U.S. states will be in the bookmaking business.
And by that time, bookies, bettors and the regulators who monitor them will be playing an entirely different game — a cat-and-mouse battle featuring cutting-edge technology and fueled by high-speed data, some of which will be coming from inside an athlete’s body.
“Scientific discoveries and technological advances will expand our knowledge of the inner workings of systems in the human body,” said Kristy Gale, the founder of an Arizona-based biometric data rights company and author of two academic articles about the topic. “This will make it highly desirable for sports betting and fantasy sports decision-making.”
As part of its Future of Sports Betting in America series, ESPN interviewed more than a dozen sources who spoke about the intersection of sports betting and technology.
Five major themes emerged:
▪ Game integrity — sports leagues’ chief concern when it comes to gambling — will be enhanced in ways that would seem like science fiction just a few years ago.
▪ Sharp bettors will continue to seek tech-fueled edges over casinos and squares.
▪ Offshore sportsbooks and neighborhood bookies — long in control of the vast majority of American market share — will continue to seek out customer-friendly technology to stave off any substitution effect where bettors opt for government-regulated outs.
▪ Virtual reality will augment the live experience for both spectators and bettors.
▪ Esports betting on league-affiliated video game titles will blur together with wagering on the actual stick-and-ball sports.
America is still coming to grips with the prospects of widespread legal sports betting. When the World Cup kicks off in 2026, though, the U.S. will be well on its way to becoming one of the largest sports betting markets on the planet. By that time, scenes that seem futuristic today will play out at stadiums, casinos, sports league corporate offices and even in the homes of fans.
Here’s what it all might look like in 2026:
Rest is here…
