Indian history and mythology are full of instances of betting. From the Maharabatha to the Ramayana, almost all epics of Hinduism mention betting games in different contexts. However, in modern India, especially in the 19th century, it became taboo in Indian society. But more recently, especially in the last decade, it has been accepted as a legitimate form of entertainment by most. The advent of online betting and casinos has made it more accessible for people who are interested in such “sports”.
In the last few years, the proliferation of online gambling and casino platforms has grown with the increase in the penetration of the internet and smartphones. This has offered a tremendous opportunity for growth to the existing online betting platforms and has led to the launch of several new ones. As an aside, if you’re someone who is planning to try online betting and are looking for a recommendation on which platform you can use, I’d suggest you have a look at Bettilt. The growth has resulted in a variety of new platforms coming to the market. Such platforms have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people turning up to get involved in betting.
Some of India’s states have been doing better than others. Maharashtra, for example, has always had a culture of betting and casinos. It has a liberal policy that promotes these games as legitimate ways of having fun without making value judgments on the people involved in it. Karnataka has also turned out to be a great success story in recent years, with cities like Bengaluru and Mysore leading the growth graph. Delhi, too, has shown an appetite for online betting and casinos, which has brought many players to the city. Among other states, the seven northeast ones and Punjab in the west have also seen the trend of online betting take a grip.
India has a demography that is ripe for online betting and casinos. With a large majority of the population below the age of 30 and proficient in the use of the internet, the betting scene in the country is only likely to grow. The pandemic also gave a push to the betting industry in India as outward mobility was severely curtailed during the pandemic, as a result of which people took to online gaming, which was available at all times. This pushed a large number of people to try online betting for the first time in their life. It was only a matter of time before they found themselves enjoying the games.
Online betting has taken many forms in India. Its combination with cricket and the Indian Premier League has been an immense success, both in terms of perception and revenue generation. People who love cricket have taken on to online betting in a big way as it not only gives them one more way of having fun while watching the game but adds another dimension to their live cricket watching experience. It has become a package of sorts. In recent years, a similar trend has emerged in other sports as well. Some apps now exclusively offer betting linked to sports like Hockey, Badminton, Football and Tennis. Hockey and Football in particular, have shown tremendous growth.
Technology has played a key role in the proliferation of online betting platforms in India. A lot of Foreign Direct Investment in the technology sector has also contributed to the growth. In recent communications, major betting players in the country have said that they are betting on technology to drive their future growth. Some players are thinking seriously about investing in technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing to drive growth and be ahead of the curve in comparison to the competition they face in the country and from the many foreign players who are planning to launch platforms in India over the next few years, given the huge potential this sector offers to investors.
The promising growth in India’s online betting sector has also given governments in the country to seriously think about policies that can regulate and promote the industry in a manner that is not detrimental to law and order. In the case of online betting, there is no physical gathering, and almost all transactions take place digitally. As a result, there is very little chance of it having any effect on law and order. So the only frontier that the government can now act on is the legal side, and there have been increasing calls from both the industry and the players to the government for liberalization of the policy. Some industry players expect major changes in policy over the next year, while others believe that the government is unlikely to disturb the status quo.
