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I always had a thing against gambling of any form and that perception has persisted till date. However, the the World of sports betting is one I view with a lighter perspective than those of, say, Casinos.

This multi- billion dollar sports industry has continued to grow immensely With the rapid advances in digitization and technological advancements. It is so big now that some betting companies are capable of sponsoring big teams or entire competitions.

In 2020 the biggest sports betting companies made revenues in excess of 25 Billion dollars. This eye catching figure is made even more impressive when you consider that there is still room for innovation and growth in the space.

The Good

The way I view sports betting or the ideal player is as a passionate sports fan that is either willing to test their knowledge of sports and make a few bucks, or as a supporter who wants to put faith with the team by staking on them. When viewed this way, it makes a lot of sense for virtually everyone to participate in sports betting every now and then. However, if that were all there was to it, then there'd be no problem.

The Bad

Gambling is addictive. The fact that we are staking real money with a high probability of loss makes it a destructive venture if performed indiscriminately. It is as a result of this that most people would rather not start, rather than risk losing much of what they've struggled to earn over an addiction.

The Ugly

Hearing how potential betting results may have directly led to things like result fixing among teams/competitions is one of the ugly, untold sides of the gambling industry.

Of course, anything that involves money will always have some unscrupulous players so it will be unfair to lay the blame at the feet of the industry alone.
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Crypto and Sports Betting

Sports betting was one of the earlier things introduced as value applications with blockchain technology. Although still growing, the potential for growth and improvement is quite visible and crypto provides the opportunity for a more transparent and rewarding betting experience.

One of the the biggest ways I see crypto expanding the sports betting industry is in payments. For instance, if Hive had a betting project connected to the hive chain, anyone anywhere in the world would easily be able to place bets in Hive or the specific token without having to worry about currency differences or going about payments. This seemingly small change could potentially transcend borders and give the industry a bigger audience to work with.

Conclusion

Perhaps I will never be completely sold on sports betting, but I do see the potential. There is always the danger of addiction though, but I guess that's with every temptation in life.

Regardless of what I think, the gambling industry will continue to grow and perhaps the blockchain will make it a much more appealing venture in the future.