India has the biggest cricket fan base and based on reports around 90% of the cricket fans worldwide are in the country. On a global level, this sport has over 2.5 billion followers. Meanwhile, according to Ormax Media, the country has over 13.6 crore fans.
MyBetting India also reported last year that around 370 million Indians would place bets on major sports events each year, and the majority of these are cricket. Around 140 million would then place bets regularly each year.
And so, the likes of IPL betting is one of the most popular gambling activities in the country. When it comes to how people are placing their bets, they are going online.
Why Online Cricket Betting?
So, why are the locals betting online? Well, it’s because it’s the best and most convenient way to do so. Gambling is generally illegal in India and is only allowed in three states which are Goa, Sikkim, and Daman.
Gambling is then regulated by the Public Gaming Act of 1867. Since this is a law passed so long ago, it has no mention of online gambling activities. That said, gambling online is still in the grey area in India and people won’t get in trouble participating in it.
Unless, of course, they run an online casino based within India. That is prohibited unless they secure a license in any of the three states mentioned earlier.
Aside from the fact that online betting is not technically illegal in the country on a national basis, betting online is much easier compared to lining up at casinos and bookies to place bets. When placing bets online, people can do so anytime and anywhere.
However, it’s important to mention that certain states have imposed a ban on online gambling activities like the state of Maharashtra because of the Bombay Wager Act.
It’s also now easier to participate in live betting or in-play betting. There are now apps that can cater to this which can take one’s betting experience to another level.
Add to that the country’s growing mobile population. More and more people are gaining access to powerful yet inexpensive mobile devices. It is estimated that the country has over 1.7 billion mobile users and over 740 million of them are online.
So, with MyBetting’s estimate of how many people place bets during major sports events, around half of the mobile internet users in the country are gambling.
More On the Online Betting Statistics in India
Based on MyBetting’s report, the states where sports betting is most popular are Telangana, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. And so, even if Maharashtra has a ban on online gambling, around 10% of the Indian punters are in this state.
Most punters are from urban areas like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Bangalore. The ones in the northern and eastern states don’t bet as much since they do tend to be on the conservative side.
Aside from cricket, other sports that are also popularly wagered on are horse racing, football, and field hockey. Some of the most popular betting sites are Bet365, Betway, and 1xBet. These sites cater specifically to the locals since they accept Indian Rupees and have payment solutions like UPI, PhonePe, and NetBanking.
When it comes to who is placing bets, 88.4% of them are male while 11.6% are female. The majority of this population is 18 to 24 years old (44.6%). Meanwhile, 35.25% are between the ages of 25 and 34. It makes sense since the younger generation is more tech-savvy or well-versed with mobile technology.
This report also mentioned that the Indian gambling market has a total annual revenue of around 60 billion USD. However, this number is hard to gauge since online gambling is not regulated in the country.
Speaking of regulation, this is what many are hoping for India to have in the future. Sports betting has become such a big industry and to many, it’s a missed opportunity to not regulate it instead. India is losing plenty of tax revenues to offshore casinos.
Whether India will move in this direction is still hard to say at the moment. What could happen is that certain states may start to regulate the industry first and the rest will then follow. Recently, this is what Tamil Nadu has announced.
The state has already formed a committee that’ll look into the possibility of online gaming legislation. That said, India still has a lot to go through if it will regulate online gambling activity. People may have to wait a while for this.