After being labelled a multi-billion-dollar industry, sports betting could generate a potential US$20 billion if all 50 US states passed legislation.
The industry could also utilise blockchain technology to create cryptocurrency sports betting.
Executives from NBCU and Disney gathered on Adweek’s Convergent TV Summit, to discuss the rise of two of cryptocurrency and sports betting.
Commenting on sports betting and cryptocurrency, Disney senior vice president of data enablement and category strategy, Danielle Brown, said: “Those are two huge categories that we’ve seen enormous growth and engagement around.”
“As it relates to cryptocurrency, we’ve been working with a lot of advertisers in the space.
“They’re really tapping into us to build brand awareness around their offering because even though it feels like it has proliferated, it’s nascent to many consumers,” she said.
“In 2020, in the last four months, that category spent about $60 million.
“In the last four months of 2021, they spent $175 million.
“So, it’s almost triple what they spent in 2020, and we’ve done a lot in this space as well.
“ESPN has a plethora of content to serve this consumer, and 84% of the sports betting audience consumes ESPN on a weekly basis,” she said.
NBCU executive vice president of client strategy insights, Yusuf Chuku, added: “The last graph I saw showed 500% growth over the next ten years in the sports betting category.”
“It’s huge, and I think a lot of the advertisers in that space are looking to build broad brand awareness, which is obviously a challenge for any brand in a nascent category.
“I think they’re also looking to build trust, and because of that, you’re seeing them lean into platforms like our own, that are adjacent to the big sporting events, and next to the news,” he said.
As technology has modernised, blockchains have also been able to revolutionise financial transactions, with sports betting reportedly ready to leap into the cryptocurrency space.
According to Forbes, US state, Wyoming, has already looked at allowing cryptocurrency to be used in sports betting, where players could deposit funds from a variety of crypto and digital currencies.
Additionally, American fantasy sports contest and betting company, DraftKings, has already opened themselves up to the potential for cryptocurrency sports betting in the future.
With Forbes suggesting their platform for NFT trading also gives the marketing team direct access to bettors.
Commenting on the rise of cryptocurrency sports betting software, GammaStack CEO, Gaurav Soni, said: “There is already a massive demand in crypto and blockchain based betting and gambling software solutions around the globe.”
“35% of the queries we receive revolve around the same,” Soni said.
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