New data from sports betting supplier Kambi as presented by iGaming NEXT has laid bare the growing prevalence of Bet Builder products among US bettors.
Relating to March and April’s NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, commonly known as March Madness, the data shows the proportion of turnover generated by sports betting operators through Bet Builder products, often referred to as same-game parlays in US betting.
The number of Bet Builders increased by 43% year-on-year during the tournament, while 55% of those Bet Builders were multi-builder bets, which are bets across multiple matches.After the introduction of an expanded Bet Builder offering for pre-match markets, Kambi said that 72% of all tournament turnover came from pre-match bets, with 28% of turnover coming from in-play betting. Over the whole of Q1 2023, that split is closer to 53% / 47% in favour of pre-match bets.
That figure may put the US behind other, more mature markets in terms of the proportion of bets being placed in-play.
For example, Australian operator PointsBet said 59% of all betting handle in Q1 of its financial year came from in-play betting.
For Kambi, of the total pre-match bets placed on March Madness, the vast majority of turnover came from just a handful of betting markets.
Spread bets accounted for 46% of all pre-match turnover, with moneyline and total points bets making up 27% and 10% of the remainder, respectively.
Bets on match winners generated just 3% of pre-match betting turnover.
In-play bets followed a similar pattern, with moneyline, spread and total points bets making up the majority of turnover.
As for Bet Builders, the most common bets of that kind were made up from the same markets as the most popular standalone bets.
Spread plus total points, for example, was the most popular kind of Bet Builder placed, followed by moneyline plus total points and moneyline plus points scored by a specific player.
The most bet-on matches occurred towards the end of the tournament, perhaps unsurprisingly, with the final showdown between the Connecticut Huskies and the San Diego State Aztecs accounting for the most turnover in a single match for both Bet Builder and standard bets.
Elsewhere, Kambi has also provided a breakdown of the turnover generated by different sporting events over the past year.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the clear standout winner in terms of turnover, although occurs just once every four years, with the NBA and NFL playoffs following up in second and third positions.
March Madness 2023, which occurs annually, was the fourth biggest event by turnover, followed by the same tournament in 2022, while the MLB playoffs, Champions League knockout stages, French Open and Wimbledon also proved to be significant events in the calendar.
Kambi’s data augments a more than 40-strong partner network across six continents.