Using the internet to gamble on sports may have become the most popular thing to do besides watching sports and analysing game statistics in person. This pastime may have reached new heights of popularity in 2026. Active viewers of sports on the internet, and particularly those who watch sports through BizBet Africa, will likely be interested to know the reason for these changes. The betting experience is changing and developing to suit the user in a faster and more convenient manner with a real-time connection of what unfolds on the field.
How Live Betting Changed the Market
Among the many recent developments in the online sports betting industry, the most impactful is how and when people are placing their bets. In fact, for the first time ever in 2025, in-game betting surpassed pre-game betting to become the most popular method for placing bets, and today, live, in-play betting is estimated to make up more than 60 percent of all online sports bets.
The cause for this change is easy to identify. A pre-match wager is typically placed prior to a match and then left alone until the end of the match. This is not the case with live betting. Odds will change and update along with any event of significance that occurs during the match. This includes goals, red cards, missed penalties, and any shifts in the match’s momentum. For those fans that are actively watching the match, they may choose to track additional information as a result of these odds changes. Research that will come out in 2026 shows that fans who engage in live betting will track information in the match more than fans that do not participate in betting. It is estimated that at least 60% of fans will plan to bet at least once while the 2026 World Cup is on, with a notable portion of those fans betting for the first time.
Here is how the format breakdown of online sports betting has changed over recent years:
| Betting format | Share of activity in 2020 | Share of activity in 2026 |
| Pre-match only | Dominant format | Below 40% |
| Live in-play | Growing segment | Over 60% |
| Mobile platform | Secondary option | 78% of all wagers |
| Desktop platform | Primary option | Under 25% |
The table shows that in less than five years, the format and platform used for betting has completely changed.
The Sports With the Highest Betting Activity
Football is the clear global favorite sport to place bets on. Football is the clear global favorite sport to watch. Football is the sport that has the most bets placed on it, and the sport that has the highest number of betting markets. This is why football betting is the most prominent sport during any betting cycle.
About 58% of bettors prefer betting on basketball. This is because the NBA has so many games in its regular season. Tennis is second. Since the Tennis Grand Slam tournaments have betting markets with ever-changing odds due to the nature of the scoring having bettors engaged with in-game betting markets, they draw a lot of betting attention.
74 million placed esports bets in 2024, with more rushing to place bets in 2025 and 2026. Esports betting is becoming a thing on its own. The reason many bettors enjoy placing bets on esports is because of the fast-paced games which create abrupt match momentum changes. Counter-Strike 2 and League of Legends are examples of games that are very popular in the betting markets with fast-paced action.
In 2026, key developments in online sports betting include:
- For the first time, betting that occurs during an event has surpassed betting that occurs before the event, making up about 60% of all betting activity.
- Sports betting is most commonly done via mobile app, with the use of desktops declining rapidly.
- Football has the highest betting traffic, while basketball, tennis, and esports are also popular.
- About 60% of fans will be betting during the 2026 World Cup, with many doing so for the first time.
- Tools for responsible gambling, like deposit limits and mandatory breaks, are readily available on more regulated platforms.
- With more people having accessible live betting, responsible gambling loses less meaning.
The rhythm of betting multiple times during the event is less responsible than placing a bet before the event. As a result, platforms also offer the ability to set a deposit limit, mandatory breaks, and a summary of what was spent during a betting session. The idea is that, when users set a limit before the event, it eliminates the impulse to place a bet during the event.