In-play betting markets have added undiscovered new areas into the broader world of sports betting since the early 2010s. Even in the earliest stages of online betting, live in-play markets were still undiscovered entities, with sports betting companies preferring to focus on cash-out markets rather than micro-betting on events during the event.

Obviously, as this market has expanded, it has grown to include so many different niches. While cycling might be an incredibly popular pastime, and professional races have respectable global viewing figures, it finds itself overshadowed in the sports betting market by some of the more mainstream sports and their underlying betting markets.

Sports betting odds often mirror the popularity of a sport, so it’s not a surprise that the latest sports betting odds at Bovada will often revolve around the big tournaments. From a cycling perspective, though, this involves the Big 3, and you can bet on each stage of the races, opening up a brand-new range of in-play sports betting odds that are highly dependent on the instant back-and-forth.

Understanding The Stage Betting Market

For those who have a good idea of how cycling works, stage betting is not simply betting on each stage of the race. Yes, you can do this, and it is technically a stage bet, but it also covers a host of other markets, such as finishing stages (top 5, top 10, etc.) and direct head-to-head matchups during a given stage of the race.

In-play betting also includes outright markets. You can gauge the feel of a race and bet on an outright winner, even after the race has begun. More and more sports betting platforms are using streaming and in-play displays to supplement the betting, meaning that bettors can follow the race in real-time and wager accordingly.

Technology’s impact across the sports betting market has been profound, ranging from cryptocurrency and blockchain implementations to AI serving as a source of knowledge and helping them deepen their understanding of sports and the underlying betting market.

Using AI to understand sports has its positives and disadvantages. While many people exploring sports betting markets use new technology to gain better insight, there is no replacement for practical experience and market awareness that come with time.

Do not bet on any type of cycling market if you don’t have a strong grasp of how it works. Take time to read about the markets, how they work, and understand that each market has its own nuances.

The Influence & Changes Of In-Play

You only need to take a look at a sports betting site to get a window into how these markets have transformed. Before the internet, in the 1990s, these markets were much thinner and consisted mostly of outrights, such as race winners and top-3 bets. There were some markets for stage bets, but it wasn’t until the rise of online cycling betting that in-play became such a viable part of the broader market.

In-play betting allows those with a keen eye to monitor specific riders, their form, how they have performed up to that point in the race, and whether they have a track record of pulling it out of the bag during certain stages. All of this matters, especially in brutal races like the Tour De France.

Some have argued that the Tour De France has become too brutal, and while there’s definitely a case to be made here, from an in-play betting perspective, it opened up a whole new range of possibilities that burst open the market.

Mobile apps, 24/7 interconnectivity, and a media landscape where cycling fans can constantly tune into content constantly have all helped to prop up subdivisions within the market. Cycling is transforming urban living, especially in densely populated cities and towns, so the fact that betting markets have simply adjusted to these changes and helped to provide a global market in what has become a vastly more interconnected digital community of cyclists was, for many, the next natural step.

The Future Of In-Play Cycling Betting

Nobody knows for sure how this market is going to manifest over the next decade or two, but if we are to take a look at the way prediction and betting markets are shaping up, then it’s likely that cycling betting will see a broader range of micro-markets emerging, which will almost certainly revolve around in-play betting.

It could be niche markets betting on the next crash, all the way to predicting when the weather will change or what color the support car will be. We’ve seen these markets expand enormously due to the global market, and now the rise of decentralized prediction markets is yet another change that will enact change.

Who knows whether there will be a big enough market to warrant cycling betting becoming more niche, and more in-play driven, but with more people using streaming services to watch cycling, and more people getting their news from social media, we can say with some degree of certainty that the future of in-play cycling betting will heavily integrate these two pillars that drive consumer demand.

The post Stage Betting In Cycling & How In-Play Markets Transformed Them appeared first on PezCycling News.