Virtual sports have been on the scene for a few years now, but they have seen a fantastic rise in 2020 during the global lockdowns. Bettors worldwide were deprived of their real-life sporting events, so they had to flock towards the virtual world to place their bets.
And it wasn’t only them that took a jab at this relatively new phenomenon. But what is this trend that was inspired by fantasy sports and real sports alike? What new things does it bring to the table and why are so many people still looking toward it even though the lockdowns seem to be slowly eradicated? Stick around and find out.
Virtual Versus Real
Many people might think that virtual sports are in direct competition with real sports when in reality they complement one another seamlessly. Virtual sports take data from the real world and place it inside their virtual reality to offer a viewing and betting experience that matches the real-world counterpart.
To give you a more concrete example, when a virtual sports match takes place, the match plays out depending on each team’s individual players’ real-world field performance data. The algorithm simply takes that data and converts it into the set of moves and events that will take place during the match.
Virtual sports also allow bettors and matchmakers to create their own fantasy teams formed from real players and test out their creation against other bettors’ fantasy teams. And the beauty of it all is that you can sit back and admire the match or skip ahead and see if you’ve won or lost.
The Appeal of Betting on Virtual Sports
You see, virtual sports simply allow you to perform certain actions that you can’t with real sports. Real sports are limited to existing teams and players’ abilities on the field, negotiations done by team managers, and so forth.
With virtual sports, you can become the manager of your own team and set it out to compete against others, much like we’ve seen in the Football Manager video game series over the years. This way, you have more control over your bets since you can be more confident about your team’s win or loss against another based on semi-controllable stats.
Furthermore, virtual sports are available non-stop, whereas real sports are only available based on what events are taking place at the moment. So, with virtual sports you can forget all about time zones, waiting, and other nonsensical things that limited the experience with real sports.
Convenience and Winnings
With certain events occurring in real-time, bettors can wager in-play bets to increase their chances and odds of winning. With the right virtual sports betting solutions, both the house and the bettors can end up with a slight profit as long as actual knowledge and betting skills are involved.
Not only that, but each individual player can organize their own tournaments, kick-offs, and whatnot within the comfort of their own home or from their smartphone and then wager bets against other players’ teams based on several factors that they can both choose.
In short, convenience is the main factor why people will stick around virtual sports long after the lockdowns will be over.
