Whether it’s fantasy football, the pools or a bit of good old-fashioned spot the ball, there has always been a deep-routed connection between football and the gambling world.

According to the Gambling Commission, it is estimated that football accounted for almost half of the £2.3bn revenues generated by online betting in the UK in 2022. The sport had the highest betting activity in the UK, drawing in £1.1bn in gross gaming revenues.

We take a look and some of the developments that are strengthening the alliance between gambling and the beautiful game. 

In stadium betting

A number of football stadiums now offer betting kiosks, allowing fans the convenience of betting within the grounds. In the UK, BD Sports Group are one of the top providers and are in partnership with some of the bigger bookies such as William Hill. Their kiosks alone can be found at over 30 stadiums across the UK including Everton, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur.

Many such clubs enter partnerships with betting companies that contribute significantly to revenue streams. Throw in the convenience and excitement of live betting and it’s no surprise that more kiosks are appearing across the country.

Developments in online betting

For those who prefer to watch the match from the comfort of their own home, betting apps and online betting platforms have been around for some time now, but with continual advancements in user interface, experience and engagement is becoming considerably more advanced.

Some platforms are using live-streaming integration which allows users to bet directly within the platform. More advanced data analytics and developments in machine learning also provide more accurate odds and a personalised, data-driven approach to betting.

One of the most recent developments in the world of digital betting is the introduction of virtual sports. For example, Betradar is currently the market leader within this area offering the latest in 3D visualization and betting options with many formats available based on popular real competitions.

Users can place bets on virtual matches meaning there is a constant stream of betting opportunities even outside of the football season.

Football and casinos

Pop-up casinos have always been a great way to raise funds and the number of smaller regional clubs hosting casino events in the club grounds is on the rise.

This has also extended into the premier league with clubs taking things a step further. Aston Villa, for example, have frequently hosted immersive experiences at the stadium including James Bond and Las Vegas-style evenings. However, with packages costing upwards of £1000, the demand for cheaper alternatives is high.

Footie fans who like a flutter, are instead choosing online platforms for a casino experience and a spot of half-time fun. Rather than games such as blackjack and poker, hosts have been turning to games such as online roulette New Jersey. The popularity of online roulette is largely down to the fact that no setup is required, and live games are available meaning the energy and momentum of the match is maintained.

Whether it's betting companies displaying logos on kit and stadium signage or sponsorship deals with football clubs and leagues, gambling has long been synonymous with football.

This partnership continues to significantly contribute to the financial strength of the sport. So long as essential dialogues and regulatory measures are maintained, there would seem no reason as to why this alliance should come to an end any time soon.

The 13th of June 2022 is a date that probably no Peruvian or Australian football fans will ever forget. On that day, their respective national teams played against each other in the play-offs for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On these amazing matches, you can make a bet and win on 1xbet.com/en, which has unbeatable odds.

Both teams knew that the match was going to be very difficult. Australia wanted to prove why it was one of the most successful football teams in the Asian zone. On the other hand, the Peruvians were dreaming of a historic second consecutive FIFA World Cup participation. Punters can make a bet and win on the 1xBet website, which also features contests played by the Australian and Peruvian teams.

An extremely tight match

Honestly speaking, this match wasn’t one that delighted fans due to great plays or incredible moments. In fact, it was quite a tight contest. Both teams prioritized not conceding a goal rather than trying to get one of their own. Whenever matches of this kind are being played anywhere in the world, the http://1xbet.com/en/live can be used to wager on them.

The 90 minutes ended 0-0. The extra time began, and things didn’t change too much. It quickly became apparent that both Australians and Peruvians were comfortable in deciding things through the penalty shootout. Whenever those shootouts take place, make sure to visit the 1xBet website and wager on them live.

A surprising substitution

Australian coach Graham Arnold had decided to start the match with Mathew Ryan on goal. He was also the captain of the team, which made what happened next even more unexpected. The 120 minutes came, and Arnold took an idea directly from Louis van Gaal’s handbook. While waiting for such unexpected occurrences, you can visit the website 1xBet - play best online slots and win with them.

A substitution was announced, and Ryan was replaced by substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne. Funnily enough, due to a typo in his shirt, his surname was spelled as “REDMA YNE” with a space in between.

In this shootout, three players failed their shots, who were:

• Martin Boyle;
• Luis Advíncula;
• and Alex Valera.

Redmayne’s impact was immediate. In fact, he became quite a celebrity due to the crazy moves and dances he made prior to a Peruvian team shooting. He successfully deflected the shot from Alex Valera, which qualified Australia for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Graham Arnold’s decision was quite a good one. In fact, Redmayne was key in helping his domestic teams win many Australian competitions after penalty shootouts. It was a gamble that worked out perfectly. You can play the best online slots on the 1xBet website while waiting for the next crazy moves from Andrew Redmayne.

When is a man in his prime? Well, depends on the context - different types of activities (and different people) define this in very different ways. For athletes, “prime” is somewhere around their peak of physical capabilities, somewhere between 22 and 30. From that point, a man’s muscle mass begins to decline, and this means that they start performing worse in their sport - this is held true for every sport that requires physical fitness, from football to soccer and combat sports.

Today, in turn, we have quite a few soccer players who seem to defy this definition of “prime” - soccer stars that, despite their age, are constantly among the most popular names both in the press and on the best sports betting site in Thailand. They are professionals who seem to be at the peak of their fitness even after decades of practicing their sport of choice.

Honorable mention: Kazuyoshi Miura

Yokohama FC forward Kazuyoshi Miura has broken all stereotypes about the “prime” of a soccer player. The 53-year-old forward has extended his contract with the Japanese team this January, keeping him the oldest active footballer in the world.

While his status as a soccer star is questionable - he did win the Asian Footballer of the Year in 1992 but that’s about it as an individual player - we have to respect his achievements over his 35-year career (so far): more than 600 league games, almost 200 goals, and dozens of caps for the Japanese national soccer team. 

Lionel Messi (34)

Now, let’s get to soccer stars in the true sense of the word - and let’s begin with Lionel Messi, currently playing with Paris Saint Germain.

Messi has spent most of his professional career playing with Catalan team Barcelona. During this time, he played in more than 500 league games, scored way over 400 goals, helped the team win pretty much every trophy you can imagine (and won everything individually as well), not to mention his results playing with the national soccer team of his native Argentina. Today, at age 34, he is still considered one of the best soccer players in the world.

Cristiano Ronaldo (36)

Another massive soccer star who should be beyond his prime but stubbornly refuses to get old is Brazilian legend, Cristiano Ronaldo. The 36-year-old player has a very impressive collection of trophies earned both with his teams and individually, and quite a few broken records to his name, including that of being the most expensive football player involved in a transfer, the most goals scored in a UEFA qualifier, and several others.

Ronaldo has recently switched teams - he now plays in the English Premier League - and seems to be bent on going on for years to come.

Joaquín Sánchez (40)

Joaquín Sánchez Rodríguez - Joaquín for short - has made his debut in 1999, at the age of 18, with Spanish team Real Betis as a right-winger. Since then, he played with a handful of other Spanish - and one Italian - teams, only to go full circle and return to Betis in 2015. 

During his career, he played more than 570 league games, scored 76 goals, and represented Spain at two FIFA World Cups. Today, he is the La Liga player with the second-highest number of outings - but he’s on his way to breaking that record, too.

Gianluigi Buffon (43)

Finally, let us mention Gianluigi Buffon, the Parma goalkeeper who is still going strong at the age of 43. With more than 1100 professional appearances, Buffon is one of the most established footballers today. He has broken countless records, including that of the most clean sheets in Serie A (299), most clean sheets for Italy at a World Cup (6), and the most clean sheets in a single Serie A season (21). He has a list of achievements and accolades that’s way too long to enumerate, and he is out for more: this summer, he returned to Parma, the club where he made his professional debut, continuing to serve as one of the greatest goalkeepers ever to step on the turf.

Depending on where you are in the world, certain sports will be incredibly popular, whereas others are barely acknowledged and hardly watched. This can be down to a multitude of factors, such as if a particular sport is taught at schools, if the sport has a thriving, successful or wealthy league in a particular nation, or if there is a particular star player from that country, who is so popular that people who never previously watched that sport decide to start tuning in, just to lend their support to their famous star.

For instance, in the world of Formula 1, it is likely that the people of the Netherlands never paid much attention to the sport for great periods of time. There wasn’t a race held there, and while there were odd seasons when a Dutch driver was participating, it never seemed to be for more than a season at a time. This all changed in 2015 when Max Verstappen entered the sport and was soon driving for one of the top teams, Red Bull. In addition, for the first time in 36 years, a race was held in the Netherlands this year, with Verstappen thankfully winning it with relative ease, which lead to the crowd going absolutely wild for him.

Formula 1 is a very popular sport, with an estimated 87.4 million people watching each race in 2020. These numbers have certainly been increased since the Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’ was first broadcast in 2019, as the show has introduced the sport to millions of people who would never previously have been interested in it. However, it is still not estimated to be in the top ten most popular sports in the world. Which sports do make it into this exclusive list? Read on to find out.

Big in the U.S. but not elsewhere

If you have ever travelled to the United States of America, you’d easily assume that because American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey are so popular there, that they must be all around the world. In fact, three of the four are relatively low down the list. American football is certainly the most popular sport in the U.S, with millions each week sitting down to watch the games, looking through their sports betting apps to find the best NFL picks for each game. But most of the viewers are located in North America, with not that many watching elsewhere in the world. In total, it is estimated around 425 million people regularly watch American football.

Baseball is in eighth position (golf is in ninth) which may come as a surprise to many. It is hugely popular in the US, but also parts of Central America, and most importantly Japan. In total, around 510 million people would call themselves fans of the sport.

Basketball is in seventh. Another sport popular in the U.S., it also attracts fans and viewers in parts of Eastern Europe and the Pacific.

A few surprises higher up the table

Seeing Table Tennis in sixth and Volleyball in fifth will certainly come as a surprise to many people. Table Tennis picks up a lot of its viewers in Asia, specifically China, which makes sense given some of the most famous table tennis players come from there.

Volleyball is estimated to have 900 million followers, and spread evenly around the world, in places such as Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australia.

Tennis places in fourth, with around 1 billion fans worldwide. Considering major events are held in North America, Europe and Oceania, it makes sense that there is a split across these continents for where the bulk of tennis fans are from.

We were very surprised to see hockey quite so high in fourth place, even if it encompasses both field hockey and ice hockey. It certainly appeals to a wide range of people, with an approximate 2.2 billion people tuning in in Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia.

Who comes out on top?

For readers outside of Europe, Oceania or parts of Asia, you will be surprised to see Cricket quite so high on the list. It cannot be overstated just how popular the sport is. Yes, many people watch it in England, Australia and New Zealand, but the majority of fans come from Asia, specifically Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. The people of India adore the sport, with the players worshipped like they are gods. The captain of the men’s cricket team, Virat Kolhi, has 150 million Instagram followers, which truly emphasises just how popular Cricket is.

Out on top is soccer. According to some statistics, there are nearly 4 billion fans across the globe, which is more than half of the world population. It is played in every country, doesn’t require much equipment, and is very easy to watch on television. Therefore, it is no surprise to see it at number one.

It takes a lot to make it in European soccer, as the leagues are highly competitive and filled with the best players from all over the world. But some of the biggest names in U.S. soccer history have tried and succeeded to make a name for themselves in some of the biggest leagues in Europe. 

Perhaps the only thing bigger than soccer in Europe is betting on soccer, with fans collectively wagering millions of dollars every year the many betting websites (50+ according to Find Betting Sites) on their favourite teams and players. But to grab the attention of fans, soccer players need to turn in top performances week in, week out to make an impact. 

Here are five U.S. soccer superstars who have made it in the European game. 

1. Christian Pulisic. 

After joining Chelsea in 2019 for a whopping transfer fee of $73 million, he’s seen by many blues fans as the long-term replacement for the mercurial Eden Hazard, who left London to sign for Real Madrid. After making his name at Borussia Dortmund in Germany, Pulisic has evolved into one of the English Premier League’s most exciting players, netting a hattrick against Burnley to open his goals account in the league. At just 22 years old, Pulisic has his whole career ahead of him and could easily become one of the greatest U.S. soccer players in history. 

2. Claudio Reyna. 

Apart from the final season of his career at New York Red Bulls, Claudio Reyna spent his whole career playing in Europe. He made an impact during his time in Germany at Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg before transferring to Glasgow Rangers and becoming an indispensable member of their squad. He then enjoyed six seasons in the English Premier League with Sunderland and Manchester City, racking up an impressive 112 caps for the national team throughout his career. Undoubtedly one of the legends of the American game. 

3. Clint Dempsey. 

Texas-born striker Clint Dempsey enjoyed a hugely successful career in the English Premier League. He was signed by London-based club Fulham from New England Revolution in 2007 and scored an impressive 50 Premier League goals in 189 matches. He secured a big move to London rivals Tottenham in 2012, but after only a season at White Hart Lane, he returned to the U.S. to see out the remainder of his career with Seattle Sounders. With 141 international caps to his name, he is the fourth highest-capped American of all time. 

4. Tim Howard. 

At 42 years of age, Tim Howard is still going strong, turning out for Memphis 901 in the USL Championship. A reliable and agile goalkeeper, Howard was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson for Manchester United in 2003, after an impressive five years keeping goal for MetroStars. Although he only made 45 league appearances for United in a five-year spell, it was his time at Everton that he will most fondly be remembered for. With more than 340 appearances at Goodison Park, Howard is an Everton legend and is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers to have played in the English Premier League.

5. DaMarcus Beasley. 

Although DaMarcus Beasley perhaps enjoyed his best spells as a player in the U.S., with Chicago Fire at the start of his career and at Houston Dynamo before his retirement, he’s another U.S. export to have made a telling contribution to the European game. Spending time at PSV, Manchester City, Rangers, and Hannover 96, he chalked up more than 100 appearances in Europe’s top leagues and was popular with supporters for his lightning pace and dribbling skills. Another centurion, Beasley, represented the U.S. national team 126 times during his career.