Betting on the Olympics: What Do Punters Choose?

The Olympic Games event attracts the most attention, spectators, and betting engagements. For sports betting on the Olympics, a wider range of activities can be covered, including athletics and niche sports. Punters place wagers based on their betting odds, athlete performances, and history. In this article, I will cover the sports, types of betting, and the region, especially Asia, that the punters choose during the Olympics.

Betting on Popular Olympic Sports

When it comes to betting, punters choose activities with higher visibility and predictable outcomes. Due to the global reach and extensive media coverage, athletics, swimming, and gymnastics are some of the most bet on Olympic events. Asia has taken to mobile betting platforms. For example, the best bet app in Pakistan and similar tools provide seamless access to markets on events like the 100-meter sprint and swimming relays. The wide range of betting options in track and field athletics also makes it very popular. Swimming has a lot of events, which means there are a lot of prominent athletes to bet on, and they draw a lot of wagers, especially on the outcomes of the medals. With gymnastics, you can bet on the depth of the competition, which includes individual and team performances.

Football and basketball are also popular for betting, especially in team-oriented markets. In Asia, badminton and table tennis are popular because of regional dominance. Countries like China and Indonesia have strong badminton programs, and this success leads to more betting in these markets. Athletic events contributed the most to the betting volume in the Olympics. In the reports, athletics accounted for 22% of the total betting volume, followed by swimming (18%) and football (15%).

The most popular sports to bet on in the 2024 Olympics were:

• Swimming
• Football
• Badminton
• Gymnastics
• Athletics

Types of Bets Placed on Olympic Events

Punters have advanced betting strategies for the Olympics. However, most people prefer simpler betting options for the potential returns. The most used type of bet is the outright win, where punters bet on a person or a team to win a particular match. An equally popular option is over/under betting, where the bettor guesses whether some figure, like the total medals won by a country, will go over or under a certain number.

There is also plenty of action on Prop bets, which target particular results, such as whether an athlete will break a world record. Another emerging trend is live betting, where bettors can place bets during the event instead of only before it. A 2024 betting platform study states that 30% of all bets placed on the Olympics were live bets, which shows the value of real-time dynamic betting. Contestants comment on the rest of the wagers.

Regional Influences on Olympic Betting Preferences

Regional betting preferences are attributed to historical sporting accomplishments, cultural interest, and affinity. In Asia, bettors gravitate to sports where their country excels. In China, diving has generated 47 medals since 1984, and therefore, heavy wagering is placed on the diving competitions. In the Olympics, India's legacy in field hockey enhances betting on this sport. In Pakistan, cricket may dominate wagering, but culturally, individual sports like Olympic wrestling and track athletics achieve prestige.

Betting platforms all over Asia have adjusted to these consumer behaviors by providing localized markets and providing localized, competitive odds. In the region, mobile applications show betting activity and provide customized alternatives to punters. During the 2024 Olympics, mobile betting infrastructure recorded a 15% increase in Asian user activity compared to 2020, indicating increased user engagement with Olympic markets. Digital betting infrastructure is growing to provide easy access to Olympic markets.

How Users Decide What to Bet On

A multitude of reasons drive the Olympic betting decisions for punters. Athletes' past performances and world rankings provide a framework for evaluating results that help drive these decisions. Competitive track athletes' personal bests and swimmers' times in recent competitions provide excellent metrics for punters to estimate the worth of a bettor's stake and betting odds. More recent performances can be captured with form guides. For the outdoor events like rowing and archery, the weather can heavily influence the betting decisions as well as the performance of the athletes.

Here are some points that most bettors consider:

• Recent performances (competitions) of athletes or teams
• Olympic history of medals won per event
• Injuries and withdrawn athletes
• Conditions of the venue, like weather and track surface
• Sentiment about odds and shifts in the market

In Asia, bettors have quick access to data on their phones, aiding in betting decisions. Bettors consider national pride and often wager on their fellow country athletes, even if the odds are not in their favor. According to estimates from betting platforms, Asian punters placed three-quarters of their bets on country athletes during the 2024 Olympics.

New Patterns of Olympic Betting

Olympics betting behavior is changing due to technology. A 2024 report stated that 70% of bets were made using mobile phones. Bettors can view an athlete's split times and head-to-head records, and other data analytics provided by betting firms, to aid in deciding where to place their bets. While esports is not an Olympic sport yet, some betting platforms have stylized Olympic betting on esports.

In Asia, using cryptocurrency for betting transactions is becoming a niche trend, even if regulations slow widespread adoption. Moreover, micro-betting, where bettors place wagers on specific moments of an event, is also gaining popularity. This is most evident with wagers for the outcome of a single heat. Young bettors especially seem to favor the more granular options. During the 2024 Olympics, micro-betting activity rose 10% for the inline event compared to the previous games, driven by technology and engaged users.