Is microbetting a macro-problem for sports and legalized sports wagering?
Some certainly think so, as lawmakers in at least two states want microbetting banned. Others might beg to differ, and see it as a niche gambling product anyway.
Others still might have more basic questions, like what is microbetting and how much of it is going on? Is it worth the fuss?
- Microbetting remains a niche but fast-growing segment of sports betting, fueled by advanced technology from companies like Simplebet.
- Lawmakers in New Jersey and Ohio have proposed bans due to concerns over integrity and the ease of spot-fixing.
- Projections estimate microbetting could generate more than $1 billion in revenue in 2025 and $3.5 billion by 2030.
As its name suggests, microbetting is betting on small things in a sporting event. What will be the outcome of the next pitch? Ball or strike, hit or no? How fast was the pitch? Was it a fastball or changeup?
You can take that spirit and apply it to other sports. Will the next play in this NFL game be a run or pass? Will the next drive end in a touchdown or a turnover on downs? And so on, and so on.
A New Jersey lawmaker is proposing to prohibit sportsbook operators from offering microbetting in the state, something that could be of particular concern to a company like DraftKings, which purchased microbetting tech provider Simplebet last year. pic.twitter.com/HLc7CDqekZ
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) July 25, 2025
Is this new? No, it is not.
In 1973, the infamous Hunter S. Thompson wrote about how he might have preferred to watch the Super Bowl “in some howling-drunk bar full of heavy bettors – the kind of people who like to bet on every play: pass or run, three to one against a first down, twenty to one on a turnover ….
“This is a very fast and active style of betting, because you have to make a decision about every 25 seconds,” Thompson added. “The only thing more intense is betting yes or no on the next shot in something like a pro basketball game between the Celtics and the Knicks, where you might get five or six shots every 24 seconds … or maybe only one, but in any case the betting is almost as exhausting as being out there on the floor.”
So, the concept isn’t new. What is new, or newer, is technology that has made it possible to bet on almost anything at any time in any place.
Around 15 years ago, a company called Cantor Gaming unveiled something they named the “eDeck,” a portable gambling device people could carry around with them at a casino and make bets.
“The hand-held device connects patrons to any sporting event,” GGB Magazine wrote. “With real-time wagering throughout the game, patrons can immediately bet a hunch.”
More recently, companies like Simplebet have provided microbetting technology to online sports betting sites in the U.S., such as DraftKings. Those microbetting markets are now housed within legal sportsbooks that are available across North America. It’s right there on your phone, the same kind of “fast and active” betting that Thompson craved 50 years ago.
Fear and loathing on a vague basis
This has some lawmakers concerned in light of recent events. In two states, the concerns have even become pronounced enough for lawmakers to propose microbetting bans.
These calls to prohibit microbetting follow the news of a Major League Baseball sports betting investigation involving two Cleveland Guardians pitchers and, according to ESPN, “unusual gambling activity” on two pitches.
In the wake of this, New Jersey Democratic Assemblyman Dan Hutchison introduced a bill to ban sportsbooks in the state from offering or accepting microbets. Hutchison claims these types of bets “are easier to fix than many more traditional forms of wagering.”
This was followed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine calling for the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) to remove all prop bets from sportsbooks in his state.
However, DeWine singled out microbetting as “a particular problem,” and the Ohio sports betting regulator now appears focused on the removal of “player-specific microbets.”
Not everyone agrees that microbets are a problem. They are, for instance, regulated and overseen by state gaming regulators and sportsbook operators looking to ensure the integrity of betting markets. If something suspicious takes place, it can be detected and reported. If those suspicions prove correct, discipline can be handed down.
There's also not a lot of clear data on the amount of microbetting.
The OCCC could very well get its arms around that answer as it looks into banning those wagering markets.
Before the regulator prohibited college player props last year, it determined those props were worth around 1.35% of all legal sports betting in the state.
Some #breaking news: DraftKings says it has a deal in place to buy microbetting market provider Simplebet. DK is already a customer of SB, which helps online sportsbooks offer markets such as the outcome of the next pitch in a baseball game. pic.twitter.com/W8ytZbCZbJ
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) August 28, 2024
Until then, some of what sportsbook operators and stock analysts are saying provides an idea of how big the microbetting business could be.
In February 2024, Simplebet announced its "best-ever Super Bowl performance," saying it handled $17 million in wagering on the Big Game. This was a 33% increase compared to the 2023 Super Bowl, the microbetting company said. At the time, Simplebet's sportsbook partners included DraftKings, Caesars, bet365, and Hard Rock Bet.
“Bettors across the country tried their best to predict the outcomes of each drive, with more than $7.7M in handle being taken on the incredibly popular ‘Drive Result Exact’ market alone (TD| Punt | FG Attempt | Turnover, Turnover on Downs),” Simplebet said in a press release.
The $17 million in Super Bowl handle was in addition to the nearly $70 million in wagering reported for the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL playoffs. Simplebet said it saw more than 4.2 million bets placed using its markets throughout the 2024 NFL postseason, up a half million compared to the 2023 playoffs.
In other words, Simplebet’s figures suggested an average microbet size of around $20. This doesn't include the 2023-24 NFL regular season either, for which Simplebet said it took almost 18 million bets, an increase of 60% from the 2022-23 campaign.
'The great scourge'?
All of those figures were provided before Simplebet’s acquisition by DraftKings last year. Since then, Simplebet’s numbers have been blended in with the rest of the Boston-based sports betting company's financial results.
Nevertheless, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins was asked during the company’s earnings call last week about the risk the company faces from the proposed microbetting ban in New Jersey.
“I see that as very, very low likelihood,” Robins responded. “It was just a piece of legislation put out by somebody. I mean, New Jersey offers online slots. I don’t know how they could possibly be looking at microbetting as the great scourge.”
Robins then added that microbetting is “not that large” for DraftKings.
“It’s single-digit percentage of handle, of live handle, I think, even as well,” he said. “So meaningful but not something that I would say is a huge component.”
DraftKings said its sportsbook handle for the three months ended June 30 was roughly $11.5 billion, up 6.3% from a year earlier. One percent of that handle would be equal to around $115 million, while 9% would work out to more than $1 billion. It's a pretty wide range.
DraftKings' second-quarter live betting handle increased 16% year-over-year, per company release
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) August 6, 2025
Still, in May, analysts at investment bank Citizens estimated that microbetting could generate around $1.1 billion in revenue this year. By 2030, the forecast was for roughly $3.5 billion in microbetting-related revenue, or more than 10% of sports betting receipts.
“We believe micro betting penetration is further along in the U.S., which we estimate accounts for 6% to 7% of total sports betting revenue, or 15% of in-play, with the vast majority generated from DraftKings,” the Citizens analysts wrote.
In June, another investment bank, Jefferies, reported the results of its latest online sports betting survey, which focused on in-play wagering. The survey found that 36% of respondents had tried microbetting.
Furthermore, 5% of respondents to the Jefferies survey said microbetting was “their No. 1 method of betting, above pre-game bets, same-game or multi-game parlays, or even in-play bets on the outcome of the game (i.e., betting Eagles to win in the middle of the 3rd quarter).”
Not a chance
So, how big is microbetting? It’s small yet significant and has the potential to increase in size and significance.
For the moment, microbetting markets are significant enough to attract the attention of lawmakers and regulators, especially when possible shenanigans are being investigated. It’s also possible, then, that the potential bans floated in New Jersey and Ohio are not the last.
That could be a problem for a company like DraftKings, which has invested plenty into live betting. Yet in a mature gaming market like New Jersey, where adults are also free to plow money into online slots, the concern about a ban remains low.
“Bills get introduced all the time that don’t really, I think, have much of a chance of advancing,” Robins said last week. “And I think this is one of them.”
