The betting industry is predicted to grow at 9 percent every year between 2021 and 2025. Most of this growth is credited to the digital revolution. Therefore, if you think about how to start a betting website today, you are on the right track.
This article will guide you on how to start a betting website legally and correctly. You will learn everything from choosing a niche to launching your betting website. Let’s dive.
Choose a Niche
The first step on how to start a betting website is choosing a niche. The betting market is vast. Therefore, you can focus on one or more markets depending on your target and capital.
Remember, there is no right or wrong niche. You can choose to offer bets on soccer or American football. But, these sports do not run throughout the year. This means that you have to take a break between seasons.
If you want to become a part-time bookie, offering one or two sports betting markets is ideal. However, if you’re going to venture into the industry full-time, choose at least 15 sports. That way, you can attract more customers and earn more profits.
Choose a Development Approach
The other step in this guide on how to start a betting site is choosing a development approach. This step involves designing a website and getting betting software.
There are three development approaches you can take.
The first is using a complete customized development. This is where you hire a web developer to design your website, mobile app, and other features. It is the most expensive development.
An example of a brand that used this approach is Bet365. It operated between $300k and $3 million to customize the website, add payment options, promotion system, mobile applications, and other functions.
The second option is using a white label. This costs between $10 and $350k to get a customized website (limited customization), promotion and payment system, and mobile applications. White-label sportsbooks pay a specific commission and profit to their host.
Lastly, you can become a licensee. Here, a bookie works under another brand’s license as an agent. Your primary work is to find new clients to join the sportsbooks in return for a commission.
A pay per head bookie would go under this development approach. But, most pay per head bookies have complete control over their betting platforms. You can spend between $6 and $60 to become a licensed betting site or pay a fixed fee for every player that wagers on your pay per head platform.
Get a License
Betting activities are legalized in some regions and prohibited in others. The areas with legalized betting activities want to remain in control. That is why they give licenses to qualifying brands to regulate gambling.
Before you offer betting services, you should find the legality of it in your target market. For example, if you want to offer betting services in Florida, find out how you can get a license or operate a legal website.
Remember, players, look for licensing information before creating accounts with betting sites. Also, it is essential to note that you will need a specific license for each jurisdiction. For example, you need a separate license to offer betting services in Florida and another in New Jersey.
You can also get a license from offshore regulators such as Curacao, Isle of Man, UKGC, Malta Gaming Authority, Gibraltar, and others. Each regulator has a set of conditions you must meet before rewarding you with a license. For example, you need to pay a fee.
When working with a pay per head provider, you might not need to get a license. This is because you will be operating under the provider’s license.
Choose Your Payment Providers
Considering that you will operate a website, you might never meet your clients. Therefore, you cannot meet them to collect your money or pay their winnings.
So, you need to partner with online payment processors. Finding payment providers is a complex process. You have to convince them to work with you.
They fear the gambling industry because it is a risky business, and has heavy website traffic, money laundering, and chargebacks. You must have a proper license to get a payment provider to partner with you. Also, your website must be developed featuring adequate security measures.
Alternatively, you can work with a pay per head developer such as Power Pay Per Head. This site collaborates with various payment providers already. Therefore, you do not have to approach individual payment processors to work with you.
Launching Your Website
The last step on how to start a betting website is launching. At this stage, everything about your website looks ready. Ensure that every function on the site is working correctly, players can find bet markets, you can use various bookmarking tools, the communication channels are working, and everything about your betting site is ready.
Your website should have the same or better features as your competitor’s. At this moment, you are ready to launch.
You can start with a soft launch. This is where you accept only a few clients to sign up and play. The soft launch can go between a few hours to a week.
Use this period to evaluate how your betting website is working. Learn about players’ experiences and collect data on what they want to be improved.
Once everything is perfect, you can launch fully. Accept as many clients as possible and offer more bet markets.
A Simpler Way to Start Your Betting Site
According to Statista, the sports betting market is $210.85 billion worldwide. This is just sports betting. The market size is much bigger when you add casinos, horse racing, esports, and other sectors.
Moreover, the market is forecast to expand. So, starting a betting website now is the best decision you can make. Yet, going through the above steps seems like a lot of work. In fact, it will cost you a lot of time and money.
But, you can always choose a more straightforward route of using a pay per head service provider such as Power Pay Per Head. You can learn more about the pay per head concept at the Power Pay Per Head blog before deciding to work with the company. Then, call the company to start your betting website.
