Betfair and the USA

[romankoz]

What is the situation with Betfair and USA bettors?

[BarchCapper]

Originally Posted by romankoz

What is the situation with Betfair and USA bettors?

User biggestal would probably have the best perspective on this. From what I recall, the Betfair Exchange was only available to US bettors and only for New Jersey residents for a short while (2016-2020), but they were not able to make it a worthwhile profitable endeavor. A combination of unfamiliarity with how it operated, a lack of participating tracks, and at that time, the unavailability of sports wagering - which all contributed to a lack of participants - were the major factors in Betfair shutting it down.

[romankoz]

Oh ok Barchcapper. Thanks for the reply.
I am not a sports bettor but I would imagine if NJersey had another crack at Betfair they would find a different terrain due to sports betting becoming so popular. It is quite a growth area in Aus.

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by romankoz

Oh ok Barchcapper. Thanks for the reply.
I am not a sports bettor but I would imagine if NJersey had another crack at Betfair they would find a different terrain due to sports betting becoming so popular. It is quite a growth area in Aus.

This information is incorrect. I live in New Jersey. Sports betting was legalized in 2018 and exchange wagering was shut down in late 2020.

The main issue was that Betfair could not get enough (any?) of the big American racetracks for the exchange. For the smaller tracks, there was not enough money bet on the races to really give you a chance to get your price or make any substantial profit. It was a situation where if there more bettors, the value would increase, and they could never reach that tipping point.

I wouldn't be surprised if they try again someday, but considering how recent this failure was I don't know if things will turn out much differently. There would need to be a concerted effort by the major racetracks to push this type of wagering and I think they feel they would be cannibalizing their own current handle to do so.

[BarchCapper]

Originally Posted by castaway01

This information is incorrect. I live in New Jersey. Sports betting was legalized in 2018 and exchange wagering was shut down in late 2020.

Thanks! Were you able to bet sports on the exchange - or was it restricted to horses? That's what I referring to with sports not being "available", i.e. available on the exchange alongside the horses, as it is in other countries. If it was, I stand corrected.

I know that horses/sports not being a "single wallet"/single app in most places has been an issue. FanDuel just annouced in December that they will have the first "single wallet" horse/sports wagering accounts/app in the US.

But that would only have been a contributing factor to participation by more bettors. The biggest factor, as we both noted, was that lack of more or less ALL of the major tracks being available.

[SG4]

Originally Posted by BarchCapper

Thanks! Were you able to bet sports on the exchange - or was it restricted to horses? That's what I referring to with sports not being "available", i.e. available on the exchange alongside the horses, as it is in other countries. If it was, I stand corrected.

I know that horses/sports not being a "single wallet"/single app in most places has been an issue. FanDuel just annouced in December that they will have the first "single wallet" horse/sports wagering accounts/app in the US.

But that would only have been a contributing factor to participation by more bettors. The biggest factor, as we both noted, was that lack of more or less ALL of the major tracks being available.

There was not a single wallet between sports & the exchange, but you were able to transfer $ immediately between your exchange account & your 4NJBets (TVG) account.

[romankoz]

All interesting. Thanks for the update. I really had no idea of the impact of Betfair in the USA. It seems like almost nothing!

[jameegray1]

In addition to lack of liquidity, the commission rate was something like 10% rendering the whole thing pretty pointless. In the UK, Betfair commission rate is 2% so you will consistently get better return than traditional bookmakers and certainly a better return than pool betting.