📌 Recently, we mentioned microbetting among sportsbook product trends, but this topic merits special attention. So, we asked our Head of Sportsbook to help, and here we are.
Sports betting used to be a waiting game: place your wager, sit back, and hope for the best. Not anymore. In a world where you have just a few seconds to grab attention, fans are betting on the next round, the next play, the next blink. Micro-betting and in-play wagering have upended traditional sportsbooks, turning every second of a live event into a microbetting opportunity. And that changes how people bet on sports.
What is Microbetting?
Microbetting (also known as “fast markets” or sometimes “micromarkets”) refers to wagering on outcomes that are resolved within minutes or seconds during a sporting event, such as the next point or play. Closely related are “player props”—individual outcome bets like “Will Salah score?” or “Will LeBron record a triple-double?”—which, while not identical to microbetting, are a major trend in the US and often overlap in product offerings.
Why It Is a New Betting Era
Mobile-first generations love a rapid pace that provides a sense of constant action: instead of placing a single bet and waiting hours for a result, a micro bettor might win (or lose) in minutes and then move on to the next wager.
It makes sense—a generation born with a smartphone in their hands is naturally drawn to quick and social betting.
🖍 High-frequency betting also encourages longer sessions; a fan is likely to stick around until the final whistle if there’s always another micro bet to consider, even if the overall match outcome is already clear. More bets per player = higher turnover for the operator.
It’s no surprise that even new entrants are capitalizing on the microbetting craze. U.S. startup Betr – a micro betting-focused app co-founded by influencer Jake Paul – raised over $30 million in 2023, promising to “TikTok-ify” sports betting for a new generation.
🖍 While the “TikTok-ification” of wagering has sparked concern about players becoming too easily hooked, raising debates around regulation, it’s important to recognize that microbetting, live betting, and pre-match betting are fundamentally different. The difference is much like that between reading a book, watching a sitcom, or playing an online game. Pre-match betting remains culturally familiar and accessible for newcomers, serving as a first step before exploring microbetting.
What Keeps Engagement Live
The growth of in-play and micro wagering is fueled by technology that simply didn’t exist a decade ago. Low-latency data feeds and AI-driven analytics now update microbetting odds in seconds or less, allowing bettors to react instantly to what they’re watching. Streaming technology has also evolved to sync live broadcasts with betting platforms. We see experiments like NBC’s BetCast integrating live odds and microbetting directly into sports broadcasts.
Features such as real-time stats, rapid odds updates, and one-click in-play bets are becoming essential rather than optional. For operators, offering micro-bets means that a platform must manage a flurry of transactions and calculations with minimal delay. Forward-looking sportsbooks are investing in these capabilities, knowing that seamless live betting is a competitive advantage.
Global Growth of Live Betting
In mature betting markets like Europe, in-play wagers already account for the majority of online sports bets, with about 70% of bets placed live. North America is quickly following suit.
How Regulatory Responses Vary by Region
The expansion of microbetting is global, but its trajectory varies by region. North America has seen an explosion in live betting since the U.S. legalized online sports betting in 2018. Major American sports, such as football and baseball, with their frequent stoppages and rich statistical data, are ideally suited for micro-markets (e.g., betting on the outcome of the next drive or pitch). This has helped live wagering gain rapid traction.
| Region | Key Sports | Engagement Level | Regulatory Status | Distinctive Features |
| North America | NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS | Very High | Mature, expanding | AI-driven, mobile-first, rapid-fire markets |
| Latin America | Football (Soccer) | Extremely High | Rapidly evolving | High excitement, regulatory hurdles |
| Europe | Football, Tennis | High | Mature, stable | Diverse markets, advanced personalization |
| Asia | Cricket, Soccer, Esports | High | Evolving, varied | Asian Handicap, parlays, accumulators, cricket micro-betting gaining traction |
| Africa/MENA | Football | Growing | Developing, liberalizing | Mobile-first, increasing micro-bet options |
Early data from U.S. sportsbooks shows that in-play handles are growing by double digits. Regulators in the U.S. have generally permitted in-play betting, but they closely monitor integrity and responsible gambling. Industry groups are proactively establishing guidelines to prevent any misuse, developing standards to ensure that microbetting isn’t undermined by match-fixing or latency abuses.
Meanwhile, Europe has long been a pacesetter in live betting, especially in markets like the UK, where in-play wagering on football (soccer) and tennis is deeply ingrained. However, football’s low-scoring nature and continuous gameplay with few discrete “plays” means the potential for true micro-betting is relatively limited compared to sports like tennis, where “next point” markets are already popular exceptions.
To address the demand for faster, more dynamic betting, operators are increasingly steering football fans toward alternative betting options, such as eFootball (FIFA matches that last approximately six minutes), virtual football (where simulated events are resolved within minutes), or specialized markets like penalty shootouts.
That said, an operator’s licensing jurisdiction may restrict which surrogate sports or tournament events are allowed for betting, and this must be considered. European regulators maintain monitoring systems, enforcing identity checks and betting limits, reflecting years of experience with widespread in-play gambling. Still, in-play betting is seen as a mature, mainstream practice.
For operators focused on offshore markets, it’s worth highlighting that portfolios of virtual and surrogate events can offer significantly greater micro-betting opportunities than traditional micro-markets, particularly where regulatory restrictions are less stringent.
Asia-Pacific
In the Asia-Pacific, in-play wagering is on a steady rise, albeit from a smaller base. Traditional betting in many Asian markets has centered on major outcomes (often via Asia’s famous handicap markets). Still, operators report an apparent uptick in demand for bet-builder parlays and micro bets across Asia.
Mobile betting now dominates user behavior not only in countries like India, Thailand, and the Philippines, but across nearly all global markets, far surpassing desktop usage. These mobile-first bettors are driving the growth of live and in-play betting thanks to the unmatched convenience of wagering anytime, anywhere.
Live streaming paired with in-play odds is becoming especially popular for sports like cricket, basketball, and esports in Asia, which naturally align with rapid-fire betting. A younger bettors in emerging economies are driving this trend, as they have the tools and the appetite for high-frequency engagement. However, in esports, there is a significant barrier for microbetting: streams are deliberately delayed (sometimes by a substantial margin) to prevent viewers from secretly feeding information to players. This built-in lag limits the immediacy of in-play betting markets in esports compared to traditional sports.
In addition, regulations in Asia-Pacific are patchwork. Some jurisdictions have clear, permissive frameworks—the Philippines and Singapore, for example, have licensing regimes that allow online in-play betting under strict oversight, enabling the segment's sustainable growth. Other places are more cautious; notably, Australia outright bans online in-play sports betting (and, by extension, most microbetting) for consumer protection reasons.
Australian bettors can only place live bets in person or via telephone, a rule aimed at slowing down wagering to combat impulsive betting. In fact, Australian research has found that microbetting is used almost exclusively by higher-risk gamblers, reinforcing regulators’ concerns. This contrast highlights an important point: while technology enables microbetting, each region’s legal environment and social attitudes ultimately shape how far it can expand.
Latin America
LatAm is another frontier experiencing a betting boom. The region’s youthful, sports-obsessed population, combined with improving internet access, has led to rapid growth in online gambling. Mobile and in-play betting has quickly become the new normal in Latin America, offering fans real-time excitement and engagement on their smartphones.
Sports like soccer and basketball dominate LatAm betting, and live wagering lets passionate fans immerse themselves in the game moment by moment. The numbers illustrate the opportunity: the Latin American sports betting market was projected to reach around $5 billion in revenue by 2024, driven largely by the spread of mobile technology and new regulations that legalized online bets in the region’s largest economies, such as Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia.
As more nations in the region formalize sports betting, operators have a chance to introduce sophisticated in-play and micro betting products to a massive audience.
Of course, regulators in LatAm are also enacting safeguards (for instance, Colombia’s regulated market requires operators to promote responsible gambling), but overall, the trend is towards opening up these markets with sensible oversight rather than prohibiting live betting.
Africa
The region is fast becoming the defining model of digital wagering, and the numbers speak for themselves. With a $6.1 billion market in 2023 projected to reach $11.27 billion by 2032, and a CAGR of over 7%, the region is moving beyond catch-up to active innovation. Real-time, mobile-first engagement is becoming increasingly relevant in Africa and is undergoing a rapid expansion.
As of 2025, 91% of African bettors place wagers via mobile devices, a figure unmatched globally due to the continent’s leapfrogging of desktop infrastructure in favor of 4G access and app-based platforms. That leap has created ideal conditions for microbetting to thrive.
In South Africa, 90% of respondents reported betting in 2025. Uganda and Kenya followed closely, with 87% and 79% participation rates, respectively. Football (soccer) remains the dominant market among these bettors, with over 60% placing their bets on live matches. But micro betting is not limited to the professional leagues. Increasingly, users are wagering on domestic and regional games, enabled by streaming services and localized data providers offering real-time odds feeds.
Since microbetting depends on latency, operators have turned to AI-based oddsmaking, real-time data feeds, and cloud-native infrastructure to enable wagers that can be resolved in seconds. The tech is complex; the interface is not. In fact, that simplicity (tap, swipe, confirm) has become its biggest appeal.
These systems are largely invisible to users, but they are transforming betting platforms behind the scenes. At the platform level, operators report that microbetting increases session duration by up to 30% and leads to higher overall bet frequency. In Africa, these gains are amplified by the fact that bettors often prefer low-stakes, high-frequency interaction – something microbetting is engineered to support.
Opportunities for Operators
On the positive side, live betting significantly boosts user engagement and retention. Bettors who might place one or two bets pre-game can end up placing dozens of wagers during an event when micro markets are available, increasing the overall handle per customer. This not only drives revenue but also provides more touchpoints to cross-sell and personalize the experience. A well-executed in-play offering can differentiate a brand—we’re already seeing operators report tangible gains.
For example, BetMGM noted a surge in wagers (over 200% growth) on specific outcomes like home runs after adding more live betting options and same-game parlays tied to real-time action. More broadly, microbetting is expected to constitute an increasingly large share of betting turnover in the coming years, with some analysts predicting that on-the-fly wagers could reach tens of billions in handle worldwide by the mid-2020s.
And Challenges
The technical demands are non-trivial: a platform must be able to process bets and update odds within seconds, accurately, and at scale. Any latency or errors in a live odds feed can ruin the user experience or expose the operator to arbitrage and losses. This means heavy investment in technology, from acquiring ultra-fast data feeds to employing machine learning models that manage risk in real time.
Operationally, bookmakers must also adjust their trading and risk management practices. Traditional odds-making might only set lines pre-game and at halftime, but in a microbetting context, odds are generated and resolved continuously. Ensuring that these rapid bets are still priced correctly and that the book isn’t overly exposed requires sophisticated automated trading systems.
Moreover, responsible gambling measures take on heightened importance when the betting frequency is high. It’s easier for a player to get carried away chasing quick losses (or wins) when they can bet again literally on the next play. Regulators and operators are aware of this; many jurisdictions mandate features like time-outs, deposit limits, and reality checks to help players stay in control. Some have even set specific limits on in-play offerings for certain sports or bettors. Integrity is another concern: the more granular the bet, the more tempting it could be for a rogue player or official to try and manipulate a single event (a practice known as spot-fixing).
The industry is responding by beefing up integrity monitoring for micro markets. Specialized firms now analyze live betting patterns to flag anomalies, and partnerships like the one in the U.S. between nVenue and U.S. Integrity are developing guidelines to safeguard microbetting from fraud and match-fixing. All these efforts aim to ensure that the growth of in-play betting remains secure.
TL;DR: Micro-Betting (2025)
