Sports betting is likely older than you thought. In fact, sports betting is responsible for the creation of one of the greatest sports competitions of our time.
We have evidence that sports betting dates back over 2,000-years to the Ancient Greeks. These people absolutely loved their sporting events. It was actually sports betting that resulted in them creating the Olympics. This is because it provided them with more events to gamble on.
Around the same time, the Romans took a shine to sports betting. Although they didn’t have anywhere near as many events to gamble on as the Ancient Greeks, their gladiator events took in a lot of cash.
While sports betting spread around the world due to the Romans, a couple of centuries later, many countries tried to outlaw it. The result was that many people started to gamble in secret. This just so happened to coincide with the creation of many more events that they could gamble on. Of course, since this was all done ‘underground’, we do not have that much evidence of what they were gambling on.
Modern sports betting can be traced back to England and the creation of horse racing. This was an event that was literally designed to be gambled on. It was probably the creation of race tracks in England that helped to spread sports betting around the world properly. It wasn’t long after that we started to see other sporting events become legal to bet on.
As sports betting became more popular in the early 20th century, bookmakers started to refine their processes. They were able to open up more betting markets. They were able to offer better odds on their events. Around this time, many countries started to see betting stores appear on their high streets completely dedicated to sports betting. This helped to create a whole new legion of sports betting fans.
Of course, the ability to bet on sports online helped to take sports betting to a whole new level. Sites like W88 allowed people to gamble on a multitude of events without leaving the comfort of their own home. In fact, your typical betting site will offer a lot more events to gamble on than your high street bookmaker. This means that they are a brilliant place for the avid sports fan to head.
Sites didn’t rest on their laurels, though. Even though sports betting online was a brilliant thing, they had to take it to the next level. When smartphones were introduced, mobile gambling became a thing. This meant that people could ‘bet on the go’. However, the biggest change in the history of sports betting was the introduction of ‘bet in-play’. In the past, you could only bet on the outcome of events. Now, you could bet while the game is in play. This helped to add a whole new dynamic to the way that betting took place, and it took sports betting more from a game of luck to a game of skill.
