How Big is the Cricket Betting Market Globally?

Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world despite the fact a small number of countries dominate at the top of the game. Test Match cricket is still considered by most to be the ultimate format of the sport and there are a handful of countries who compete at the highest level. New Zealand, India, Australia, England, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe are the nations listed in the official Men’s Test Team Rankings.

However, many of these are huge countries and there are millions of cricket fans in those countries alone. With that in mind plus the fact online betting has become a major part of many professional sports in recent years, how big is the cricket betting market globally?

If you head to Bettingguide.com, you will find reviews of the best and latest sports betting websites based on the country in which you reside. There are options for the United Kingdom, India, and South Africa plus several other countries, in many of which online cricket betting is thriving. You only have to look at some of the major cricket events around the world where betting features heavily and the Indian Premier League is a good example.

The IPL is a massive cricket tournament staged in India and features the biggest names in world cricket. Each stadium is packed for the matches and there is a huge live television audience around the globe. Depending on which broadcaster you are using to watch the IPL, the odds for the match are likely to be shown on screen at some point during the match. Dream 11 is one of the co-presenting Sponsors of IPL 2021 and is an Indian-based fantasy sports platform. You can play fantasy sports on the website to win real money and that makes it a form of gambling, which is extremely popular during the IPL.

Going back to 2016, a report in the Hindustan Times claimed the illegal betting market in India is worth $150 billion (Rs 9.9 lakh crore) a year, with over $200 million gambled on every ODI match. The information was gathered by the Doha-based International Centre for Sports Security and applies only to India and ODI matches. That makes you think just what the figures must be if you begin including the countries where it is legal to bet on cricket, such as the United Kingdom. Cricket lends itself to betting thanks to the statistical nature of the game and this draws in many gamblers. It is even possible to place a bet on what is going to happen with each individual delivery during a match, which is incredible and shows the thirst for cricket betting among the sports gambling community.

The global sports betting market was valued at US$85.047 billion in 2019 and is only going to grow, with cricket enjoying a significant share of the betting activity. In fact, cricket is regarded as one of the key sports betting markets and whenever a new online sportsbook is launched, you can guarantee cricket will be one of the first sports available.