Live wagering has become one of the fastest-growing areas for legal sports betting in the United States, and that’s forced online sports betting sites to expand technology and give users a fast, reliable method to place in-play wagers.
It should come as no surprise that two of the top sportsbooks on the market are dominating the live-betting landscape, according to a recent study by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.
FanDuel ranked No. 1 among the 15 sports betting apps tested in June by the research firm. The sportsbook giant was given the highest rating of 17.0 out of a high of 20 points by E&K. FanDuel ranked first or second in all three of the main scoring categories: UX/Core, betting interface, and features. The operator also excelled in bet completion percentage and average bet processing time.
FanDuel is continuing to add to its live betting options with the integration of IMG Arena's Golf Event Centre for the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
DraftKings finished with the second-best live betting score of 16.4 and was praised for its deep betting markets and easily navigable interface.
The two rivals, which make up the bulk of the market share in the U.S., offered testers the most comprehensive betting options, according to the study.
Rest of the Top 5
bet365 has applied what it's learned from the robust live-betting European markets to score the third-highest U.S. rating of 16.0, thanks to the fastest processing time for in-play wagers among all tested apps and strong live-streaming technology.
The study found a large gap between the Top 3 and the rest of the Top 5, but one of the smaller operators in the country beat out a lot of the big boys. Tipico — which is only live in Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, and New Jersey — came in fourth overall at 15.1 and was lauded for its impressive processing times and easy-to-use layout.
PointsBet placed fifth at 14.9 because of solid scores across the board.
Rest of the field
BetRivers, Caesars, and BetMGM, the next three in the rankings, all rated well with scores between 13.7 and 14.3.
The research showed another significant drop after the Top 8, though. Processing times for live wagers at SBK were eight seconds slower than leader bet365, and completion rates on the low-end apps were as much as 24 points worse than BetMGM’s 97%.
Those outside the Top 8 included (in order of rankings) Barstool, the now-defunct FOX Bet, Hard Rock, WynnBET, SBK, Betway, and Sports Interaction. The last six apps on the list were unable to score at least a 12.0 and were plagued by an “incomplete and buggy betting experience.”
Underperforming area
Testers found that while speed, betting options, and usability were important, depositing, cashing out, and the ability to place same-game parlays were major factors in the ratings.
An area where all of the apps underperformed was making deposits from the betslip. In some cases, fonts were too small or too hard to read while many of the apps had time issues getting deposits to go through as testers rushed to make live bets.
Testing caveats
The study did come with several caveats. The testing was done only during a 17-day period, and it took place in legal sports betting states Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
The research recognized that live betting could’ve already improved since then and varied from state to state. The study added that the testing “should be treated as a snapshot in time of a product set that is in flux — not as a definitive assessment of that product set or its broader prospects".
