Sports betting is the most popular online gambling activity in Africa. Most African iGaming markets, including Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, get their highest iGaming revenue from sports betting. This is due to Africans’ love and passion for sports, especially football.
However, next in popularity to sports betting is virtual sports—a form of online sports gambling that provides an instant moneymaker for online sportsbooks.
The importance of virtual sports was more expressed in the face of the coronavirus crisis and lockdown that ensued. Sports in most of the world were suspended until further notice.
Despite the uncertainty, virtual sports provided a way for operators to keep making money on sports bets. It became the main attraction of bettors.
What are Virtual Sports?
Virtual Sports are simulated matches in which teams play real championships and leagues. Then, this entertainment recreates the main sporting events at an international level. However, they can also be inspired by fantasy leagues.
These competitions generally use statistics and forecasts from the real teams to adapt them to the virtual environment. The random component also comes into play within the virtual environment, ultimately determining the final result.
This phenomenon is becoming increasingly popular among sports and betting fans in Africa, as it has many advantages.
How do virtual sports work?
Technology is the backbone of virtual sports. The main attraction of these competitions is that they take place in such realistic scenarios that they are almost no different from actual sporting events.
Advances in technology enable high-definition graphics and details that give it superior realism to virtual matches.
There is a betting market to participate in as in any other sport. The most exciting thing about virtual sports is that no matter where you are in the world, you will see the same calendars, competitions, and results as if they were actual events.
Virtual sports use a random number generator to ensure transparent play, like in casino games. This allows the results to be completely random, and no one can predict what will happen in each encounter.
Advantages of virtual sports
The main benefits of virtual sports are:
Accessibility: They can be accessed through any electronic device with an Internet connection.
Transparency: The random number generator guarantees that the game is random.
Immersion: Virtual sports matches take place with a level of realism that allows total user immersion. The images you see on the screen are modeled to resemble what you see on television closely, and you will hardly notice the difference between a real soccer game and a virtual one.
Available Markets: Virtual sports have many different markets. Soccer and horse racing are the most popular among the public.
Are esports the same as virtual sports?
Although it is about competitions in both cases, electronic sports are not the same as virtual sports.
In esports, competitions occur within video games. Individual players and different teams prepare as true athletes to face each other.
In the case of virtual sports, these are driven by technology and do not depend on other people. However, they have something in common: electronic and virtual sports have become a true phenomenon that continues to set trends among sports fans in Africa.
How Virtual sports provide a long-term opportunity for African Operators
- Virtual matches are fast-paced and available 24/7, so gamblers can constantly bet on the market at any time of the day. They ensure quick profits and a steady income for African operators even during the pandemic and lockdown period.
- Virtual sports games are designed using attractive 3D images. As such, they attract more users and increase the overall profitability ratio of these games. By attracting more players, they expand the audience of a betting site and generate more money for the operator.
- Virtual sports provide a wide range of betting options for players. Sometimes much more than standard or traditional sports betting. For instance, punters can make bets long before the match occurs at several online sportsbooks in Africa. Furthermore, betting on virtual sports is very simple and easy to understand.
- Virtual Sports is a multimillion-dollar industry with enormous profits and a limited audience. It features a model that operators can seek to exploit in the years to come.
