New consumer research from Paysafe shows almost half (49%) of weekly sports bettors say the introduction of 5G to sports arenas is important to them

41% of sports bettors expect to be able to place in-stadium and in-play bets at large sporting events

Paysafe, a leading specialised payments platform, has unveiled international research into the impact of 5G on mobile sports betting in the US, UK and Germany. The report reveals that just under half (42%) of regular (e.g. weekly) sports bettors across countries anticipate increasing their in-play sports betting activity with the emergence of 5G. And over a fifth (21%) say that 5G means they plan to increase the number of sports they bet on.

At present, only 14% of sports bettors have no concerns at all about placing bets during events. Almost a quarter (22%) of sports bettors have concerns over delays in placing bets, and a fifth (19%) are worried about poor internet connection via their mobile device when placing a bet. One in five (18%) of sports bettors think they don’t have enough information at their fingertips be to be comfortable with making in-play bets.

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With 37% of all active players preferring to place bets on a smartphone or tablet, the advent of 5G suggests that players will feel more comfortable betting more, as the risk of slow connectivity will be reduced. Furthermore, over half (55%) of all current sports bettors said that the ability to make payments from anywhere was the reason why they used a mobile platform.

5G presents an opportunity for better connectivity and increased bandwidth, which, in turn, provides more real-time data enabling players to make faster and better informed betting decisions. This will support the two thirds of current and prospective players (61%) wanting to be able to make more wagers on mobile platforms across the US, UK and Germany.

In contrast, almost half (51%) of regular sports bettors are currently reluctant to place bets when attending a sports event due to the varying quality of 4G connections. 49% of consumers felt that the introduction of 5G in sports arenas is important to them, with almost half (48%) saying they would be more likely to place a bet through their mobile app if they were at a game with 5G coverage.

There is also an expectation that in-play and in-stadium betting will soon be commonplace with 41% of all sports bettors surveyed saying they expected this to be available at most large sporting events in the future.

Daniel Kornitzer, Chief Business Development Officer at Paysafe, says: “5G offers a lot of growth opportunities for operators of mobile betting platforms as it gives better searching, faster transactions and improved in-play functionality. Our research clearly indicates that consumers have the appetite for the progress and flexibility we see with the emergence of this new standard of wireless connectivity.  For players, it’s all about being able to place bets safely, anytime and anywhere. We would urge sports betting operators to be ready for the increased traffic on their platforms – it’s a huge opportunity for them.”

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The full report, can be found here: https://www.paysafe.com/mobile-sports-betting-2020/. Paysafe and its brands Skrill, NETELLER, paysafecard and Income Access will be attending ICE London, taking place at ExCel London this week, at booth number N7-320.