Are you looking to create sports betting app? Check the required features and app-building steps

Since the growing popularity of mobile apps, the way of playing sports betting has changed forever.

According to the reports by the Forbes, the market size of the betting industry was around 80 billion US dollars in 2018 and is expected to reach 102 Billion US dollars by the end of 2023.

Many businesses and entrepreneurs want to enter this profitable market by starting sports betting app development. 

If you also want to create your online betting application, check all the required steps from the blog. 

But first, let’s understand how the betting app works.

How do sports betting apps work?

The app contains a series of steps discussed below:

1. The user joins the sports betting platform by registering or login in after submitting their required details.
2. Users deposit their funds into the app to place real bets on their favorite players.
3. Next, app users select different games based on their preferences.
4. The user accesses all the live updates about their favorite game, including the player’s performance metrics through the in-app’s game insights.
5. Based on real-time performance, the app users choose the players participating in their favorite games.
6. The app pays the users based on the performance of players on which they have placed a bet.
7. At last, users can withdraw the winning amount along with their deposited funds to their bank account (which has linked to the betting app).

If you want to know how to develop your online betting application, let’s understand the app development steps for your business. 

Sports betting app development steps 

Check out the app development steps:

1. Get a gambling license for your business

It’s almost impossible to legally start your sports betting business in the US or any other targeted country without a gambling license. Every country has its laws and regulations for applying for online gambling licenses.

Below you can check general information about applying for a gambling license in your targeted countries:

USA	You can apply for a gambling license in only selected states like Nevada and New Jersey in the US. While in other states, online gambling is illegal.
Australia	Applying for online gambling in Australia is not strict as in the US. Almost all states allow online gambling in Australia.
Europe	Different European countries have different rules and regulations regarding running online sports betting businesses. For example: In Germany, it is illegal to run online gambling businesses, while in Italy, it is allowed to run betting apps where anyone can easily apply for an online gambling license

2. Create an app development strategy for your online betting app

Study of apps such as FanDuel, DraftKings, BetRivers, and others to know how their business works and what features they have included in their app. 

Next, know the exact legalities you must take care of while building your app, such as permitted user age range, permitted US states, getting a sports gambling license, etc. 

You can find the best app development company experienced in creating betting applications and having excellent knowledge in this domain, such as

• Knowing the audience base in the sports betting industry 
• Understanding the best UX/UI development strategies
• Knows and has already built and launched sports betting platforms for their existing clients, along with being in sync with all the legalities and practices needed to run sports betting business.

Also, properly build your business model to decide how you will make money from your audience on your sports betting platform. 

Create documentation of your sports betting platform and mention the required features and functionality you want in your app. Research popular social media platforms where your targeted audience is most active so you can later promote your online betting app.

Know your target audiences and understand how to attract and encourage them to play sports betting on your platform. Create a marketing plan to attract betting users to your app. 

3. Design the UX/UI of your sports betting platform

Once you have created a strategy for your sports betting platform, the next step is to make your app’s user interface. The developers will build and provide clickable mockups for the app design you selected for your sports betting platform. 

The sports betting platform includes essential features that users want to find immediately after opening your app. It can be placing bets, customer support, live scores, etc. 

Therefore make sure your app development team has placed all those essential features properly on the home screen of your app. 

Once you have approved the design of your sports betting platform, the developer will start building the decided features to make your betting platform fully functional and ready to use.

4. Build the decided app features 

Try to include a set of required features in your app, such as placing bets, live score, deposit/withdrawal, anti-fraud system, etc. 

Once your partnered app development company finishes building features for your app, ensure they have implemented all the decided features.

The development team will integrate back-end development parts, like app features and APIs, with front-end development parts, like buttons and widgets of your application, to make your platform fully functional.

Instead of adding all the app features, we suggest you build the MVP of your application, which will contain only the required elements through which users can place bets on your platform. 

Before making your app announcement on your targeted platform, you can launch a beta version of your app. 

Beta testing will help you get valuable feedback from your audience, which can help you improve your app experience based on beta testers’ feedback.

5. Integrate the payment system 

You need to add a payment system to your app to allow your sports betting players to deposit and withdraw money. There are different payment options you can add to your app, such as

Stripe	The payment offers fast and secure transactions. The platform provides an easy-to-use interface where anyone can quickly deposit/withdraw their funds.
NETELLER	NETELLER is one of the most used payment systems worldwide. The platform offers a high level of security and transactions.
Skrill	Skrill provides a flexible payment system for the gambling business. This payment system also offers users anonymity to secure their accounts during online transactions.

6. Cross-check the quality of your sports betting app  

To ensure your sport betting platforms have no glitches or drawbacks. Do app testing multiple times to identify any technical issues in your app.

When app testing, ensure you have checked the following things: 

• Do all the buttons of your apps work properly?
• Are there any challenges while depositing and withdrawing from your app?
• Does your sports bet app have an easy onboarding process?
• Does your platform show the live scores of all the listed sports on your platform?

Also, check many other factors before launching your app on your targeted platform. 

However, partnering with the best app development companies can simplify your app testing process as they will do all app testing and will remove any possible technical glitches. 

7. Publish your app on your targeted platform

After following all the required app development steps for your sports betting platform, you can launch your app on your targeted platforms, such as mobile devices, websites, or other platforms.

Along with publishing your app, follow marketing practices such as social media marketing, app promotions, refer and earn, etc. 

Also, you can perform influencer marketing, where Influencers who create content relevant to apps will promote your app among their audience.

Moreover, you can improve the chance of succeeding in your sports betting business by properly optimizing your app on different targeted platforms, Android, iOS, and others, by following their app publishing guidelines.

Every sports betting platform needs some set of features that you can add to your app. But what are these features? Let’s check.

Top features of the sports betting app

Your sports betting platform will contain three separate panels one for the audience, the next for the booking panel, and the last for the admin itself. Each panel will have a separate set of features.

Now let’s check the features required for the app admin.

I. For the admin panel

As an app owner, you will access the following features to manage betting players and bookies on your sports betting platform.

1. Game management

The feature will allow the admin to manage the games for upcoming sports events through which users can place bets on the platform. The admin can decide what games they will allow their app users to place bets on.

2. Payment management 

The feature will include the historical records of all the payments made by app users on the sports betting platform. 

With the help of payment management, the admin can decide what payment gateway and methods they will use to allow users to withdraw and deposit their funds. 

Also, you can create your payment system for your betting application to avoid paying commissions on each transaction to third-party payment providers.

3. Live feed

The admin can make announcements regarding the app policy or sports betting with the help of the live feed feature. Also, the live feed will help the admin to access important information about their sports betting platform.

4. Advanced dashboard 

The dashboard will include all the data the admin needs to operate their sports betting platform smoothly. Also, the dashboard will include analytical reports through which the admin can get exact information about user engagement, user retention, and other essential aspects. 

The dashboard is the main home screen of the platform where the admin can entirely operate their sports betting platform. The dashboard will offer all the required features and functionality that the admin will need to operate their sports betting platform.

5. Bookmaker management 

This feature will allow the admin to manage different bookmakers associated with their application. The future will provide information on all the bookies available on your sports betting platform. 

6. Marketing management 

The feature will offer a dashboard through which you can create and access all the ongoing campaigns to promote your app. The marketing management feature will let you target your potential audience by promoting your app on different platforms.

7. User management 

There are chances that users can perform fraudulent activities on the app. 

Therefore, to help owners maintain the reputation of their app, they need access to take actions on users such as suspend, access profile descriptions, and others to better manage users on their platform.   

8. Customer support

With the help of the customer support feature, the admin can resolve the issues of app users, such as withdrawal and deposit problems, inability to place bets properly, etc.

Also, it is advisable to integrate chatbots on sports betting platforms to help admin to resolve common issues in an automated way.

II. For the user panel

Users who are going to perform sports betting will get access to the following app features:

1. User registration 

Allow your app users to join your platform quickly. Also, you can add social media integration where your app users can register your platform by sharing their details from their social media accounts. 

2. In-app purchase 

Betting application offers multiple items available through in-app purchases, such as coins, player cards, and others. Also, you can bring your concept, where you will sell digital items, such as relevant tokens, to the app.

Creating a marketplace in your app is advisable to let users explore and purchase digital items (which can bring another income source to your business).

3. Anti-fraud system

Multiple anti-fraud systems exist in betting applications, such as “bet monitoring and detection,” “education and prevention,” “integrity audit,” and others that you can add to your app.

All these security features will help users stay aware of any fraud in betting apps. 

4. Virtual/ Real Money Payments 

For new users, you can offer a virtual money option where they can learn and practice sports betting without risking their real money. Offering virtual money is the best way to attract new sports betting players to your platform. 

While for experienced sports betting players, you can avail of real money betting, where users can play sports betting with their actual money once they deposit their funds on your platform.

5. Notifications with results

When users place their bets on any specific sports event, the feature will help them stay updated with the latest scores through notifications without opening their betting applications. 

6. Live scores 

The live score will provide an excellent way for app users to stay informed about the sports on which they have placed a bet.

7. Select the sport 

Since your app will offer a betting option on multiple sports, the feature will help users select their favorite sports where they want to place their bets.

Offer multiple sports betting options in your app to attract a large audience base to your sports betting platform. 

8. Betting tips

The betting tips will help users to know more about sports betting, which can help them make better decisions and maximize their chances of winning on your sports betting platform.

Also, offering betting tips to your users will bring confidence inside them, encouraging them to place more bets on your app (which is ultimately profitable for your sports betting business).

9. Select the betting patterns 

Multiple sports betting strategies are available to increase the chances of winning user bets. Try to train your app users by listing multiple sports betting winning strategies to your app. 

You can add information regarding multiple sports betting strategies such as 

• The zig-zag theory
• Arbitrage betting
• Matched betting
• Chasing the dream
• Line Shopping

10. Calendars, days & schedules

The calendar will include a list of all the upcoming sports events on which app users can place bets. Also, the feature will help users to schedule upcoming sporting events through which they will get notified when specific sports events start. 

11. Live feed

The live feed contains information about live scores on different sports, top-ranking sports betting players, their betting status, upcoming sports events, and much more.

12. Risk management

There are different approaches to managing risk in betting applications. Risk management is essential for every sports betting player to protect it from considerable loss.  

The most critical risk management feature you can add to your app is the “loss limit.” The feature will help users set the maximum loss they can handle each week or month. 

The loss limit will temporarily lock users from betting on sports when they reach their maximum loss limit. 

III. For the bookie panel

A bookie will facilitate gambling from your platform to your app users. They will be responsible for setting odds assets, placing bets, and paying the betting winner in your app.

1. Bookmaker account 

All the bookies can join your app by entering the required details on your sports betting platform. Also, you can integrate social media integration to help them quickly join your platform.

2. Live feed

The bookies can post a live update regarding all the matches and sports available on your app. Offering real-time live feed in your app will help betting users stay up to date with the latest game scores.

3. Notifications 

The feature will allow bookies to provide the latest sports event updates to your app users involved in sports betting. Also, with the help of notifications, the admin can provide information regarding app policies to the bookies.

4. User management 

Allows bookies to manage sports betting profiles on your app. With user management, bookies can collect betting amounts from your app user and pay the winning price to the player who has won the sports bet on your app.

You must know some algorithms sports betting platforms use in their app. Let’s check these algorithms with their details.

Type of algorithms in sports betting apps

Online betting applications mostly have these two algorithms, as discussed below:

1. Betting arbitrage algorithm

This algorithm involves finding odds at different bookmakers. There is an exchange of placing regular bets with good bets by placing them against each other. The player makes a profit when the prediction of exchange odds turns accurate.

2. Value betting algorithm 

This algorithm has ranked better than the betting arbitrage algorithm. The algorithm uses team data and statistics to calculate the potential outcomes of sports betting. Since the algorithm performs real-time data calculation, many players consider this algorithm to be quite accurate.

Now, let’s check the popular types of sports betting platforms.

Popular types of sports betting platforms

The online betting apps contain different kinds of sports betting that you can check:

1. Money line betting

This is an easy way of placing sports betting. Money line betting is popular in sports such as baseball and hockey. This kind of betting involves two or three outcomes depending on the sport. When two players or teams are involved in money line betting, the betting player will select one player or team to win and make profits.

2. Point spread betting

This kind of betting is popular in sports such as football. The betting involves covering the spread. There is a selection of teams where the sports team wins by specific goals/runs/points and the betting players profit. At the same time, people who place bets on the losing team lose their money at the same amount of points.

3. Head-to-head betting

Popular games such as Golf involve head-to-head betting. In this, users place their bets on head-to-head results between 2 players, and the users will profit when the player on which they bet finishes first or wins the tournament.

Why is it better to make sports betting app than a betting website?

Sports betting platforms can be built on a website and a mobile app. Still, choosing a mobile app over a website can be considered a better business decision. With your sports betting mobile app, you can attract a large audience base as compared to building your sports betting website.

Here are the top reasons that tell why choosing mobile apps over websites for your online betting app is a good idea.

1. Better security 

Websites are more vulnerable to hacking than mobile apps.  Moreover, publishing your apps on popular app distribution platforms such as Google Play Store and Apple App stores will ensure that you will get an excellent level of security from being hacked by hackers or spammers.

Also, betting applications need reviews from existing users to help new users to trust the platform. 

On each app distribution platform, there comes a rating and review feature through which anyone can check the trustworthiness of your sports betting platform by checking other users’ ratings and reviews. 

The same case doesn’t apply to your sports betting website, which is not good for your sports betting business in the long run.

2. Easy access

There is a high possibility that users will need to remember the brand name of your sports betting platform. When it comes to your sports betting mobile app, users can access your sports betting anytime they want, as your app will be installed on their mobile device.

You can easily embed multiple features into your sports betting mobile app compared to websites. Mobile apps have greater navigation access allowing users to explore all features and functionalities of your sports betting platforms.

3. Personalized customer experiences

Your sports betting mobile app can provide a smoother experience as compared to your website, as it is easier to customize your mobile app than your website. 

Based on your customer’s needs and requirements for accessing your sports betting platform, you can make quick changes to your app to offer them a more personalized experience. 

However, we can’t do the same thing on websites as there are many challenges when making customized website changes.

We suggest you use both websites and a mobile app for your sports betting platform. So you can attract a large audience base that comes from mobile devices and desktops.

Want a sports app like the features mentioned above? contact us. 

If you want to create your sports betting platform from the best app development company, you can contact Idea Usher.

Ideas Usher is a team of app developers, project managers, UI/UX developers, and other professionals that can help you build and launch your online betting app on your preferred platform.

The company has already built and launched many sports betting platforms for their previous clients, which gives them knowledge and experience in creating betting applications that are engaging and easy to use. 

Contact Idea Usher 

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

(+1)732 962 4560

(+91)859 140 7140

FAQ

1. How can I create a betting app?

You can follow the given sports app development steps:

• Create app development strategy 
• Design the user interface of your betting app
• Start building the app’s features and APIs 
• Create MVP of your online betting app
• Test your betting app 
• Publish your sports betting app

2. Is there an algorithm for sports betting?

Yes, these apps use an algorithm that contains team and players’ data and statistics. The algorithm performs several complex mathematical evaluations to predict the probability of high winning results in sports betting games.

3. Is it legal to create a betting app?

It is legal to create a betting app, and you must apply for a gambling license in the targeted countries where you want to launch your online betting app.