Building a market for betting on the next baseball pitch or football play in real-time is tricky. It needs to catch bettors’ interest and provide enough time for their bets to be processed. If bettors want to watch their game on TV, they might feel frustrated. Modern TV latency can make the image on screen lag by over 30 seconds compared to the data feed on their betting app. Users on platforms like 22Bet face this issue too.
Scandal Makes Microbets Macro Issue
This is an overreaction to Joey Levy. He’s also the creator behind Simplebet and currently serves as Betr’s CEO.
“Outlawing a specific type of bet is a mistake, and I hope it doesn’t happen,” he told InGame.
“It may be under discussion in a few states, but banning it would be a major misstep.”
Professional sports leagues are applying increasing pressure on this issue. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has stepped up his remarks over the past year. He said after the Ortiz announcement and before Clase’s that microbets are “unnecessary and particularly vulnerable.”
In August, NFL VP of Sports Betting David Highhill said microbets may not engage fans much. He also pointed out that they could lead to more misbehavior.
Approach With the Right Thoughtfulness
Corey Gottlieb, DraftKings’ chief product officer, said the decision to drop some bet types is “pretty case-by-case” for pro sports leagues. In the past few years, sportsbooks and pro sports leagues have often joined forces. “We always work with them and other operators to figure out what’s best for customers.” There’s no simple answer to, “If someone asks us to change, will we?” We always analyze things from both legal and business angles. Our talks with the league are ongoing, and we listen closely.”
Critics from regulators and academia worry about microbetting. They say it appeals to younger people who are more impulsive. Gottlieb noted that DraftKings is heavily investing in microbetting. A key focus is understanding responsible gambling.
Microbetting: A Relatively New Choice
Levy pointed out that it’s easy to understand microbetting’s share of the national sports betting handle.
Its share is small simply because it began from virtually nothing,” he explained. In the U.S. market, there wasn’t a good user experience for microbetting until Simplebet. So it’s very nascent, but it’s growing. It’s growing quickly.
“I believe there’s a big chance to tailor the user experience for micro markets. We can customize it based on the type of betting offered.”
Levy said microbetting has “never been as popular as it is today.”
“I think its popularity will keep increasing. New types of microbetting are emerging. Operators are improving their pricing for these markets. ‘They have high uptime and little suspension time, which leads to better accuracy,’ he said.”
Microbetting Isn’t Going Anywhere
The microbetting revolution may not be televised. Not if bettors want to second-screen their bets and their games.
“That part is definitely, at times, a little bit annoying or a deterrent for customers. But whatever you’re looking at in the app is going to be updated, which is good. We have a data visualization. Customers can bet on games while logged in and actively participating.”
Many sportsbooks have partnerships to broadcast some game feeds within their apps.
DraftKings bought Simplebet in 2024. They fully merged its platform to boost their microbetting power. Gottlieb said the tech is crucial for DraftKings’ “speed of sports” focus this NFL season and in the future. Gottlieb noted that DraftKings offers “hyper-granular” features. This includes betting on every pitch in baseball and every point in tennis.
Will a second-and-three play at the four result in a touchdown? Will Mahomes complete the next pass? Microbetting breaks wagers down to that level of detail across sports.
And like other major operators invested in the space, DraftKings shows no intention of backing away from microbetting.