Sportsbooks Expecting A Home Run With MLB Betting Revenue

• As the MLB returns, sportsbooks should see a spike in revenue because of the many months with a lack of live sports.
• Colorado is a state that recently legalized sports betting and as saw promising numbers in revenue despite the pandemic sports shutdowns
• Sports betting platforms like FanDuel are launching promotions that should bring in new bettors as the MLB season begins.

DENVER – The MLB will begin the delayed and shortened 2020 regular season this week and sportsbooks are looking to have something to cheer about.

This is the first of the big three professional leagues to return and after months of no major live sports, bettors are ready to get back to placing wagers. The games have begun with no fans in the crowd and sportsbooks should be able to capitalize on the fans that want to further engage with the games.

“People that have great affinity to a sport like baseball are typically much more fervent fans, thus creating more interest in general but also in betting,” said Max Bichsel, vice president of U.S. business for Gambling.com. “Fans love to follow baseball ‘pitch by pitch’ compared to ‘point by point’ such in the case of table tennis.”

Betting on MLB games has shown to be extremely lucrative in the past. In 2016, $1 billion was bet on the season in Nevada alone. Now that there are close to 20 states with active sportsbooks and a large appetite for betting on traditional sports, MLB betting revenues could be out of the park.

A Sign Of What’s To Come?

Going into this year many sportsbooks saw record-breaking numbers as the popularity of betting on sports has risen in the country but was halted by the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns.

States like Colorado that legalized sports wagering this year have seen the lows of the industry but it actually gives hope to the future of betting in the state.

In Colorado, wagers on sports like MMA, motorsports, soccer, golf, and table tennis generated $25.6 million since the start of legal sports wagering in May. Betting on the MLB should amplify those numbers.

“The return of sports is obviously going to be huge for sportsbooks around the country, as they’ve been operating for months without major revenue drivers,” said Dave Forman, senior research director at the American Gaming Association

It has only been a little over two years of legal sports betting operating outside of Nevada, and this year, states faced a major disturbance in the sports cycle. The growing interest in sports betting shows signs of a huge increase as the MLB and other sports return.

News tags: Colorado | Dave Forman | Max Bichsel | MLB | MLB Betting | Nevada