While the online gambling industry is growing rapidly in India, it’s important for fixers to understand that the most popular sports to bet on in India will generate 90%+ of their revenues.
How many friends do you have that bet on MLB (Major League Baseball)?
In India, sports betting is dominated by cricket.
Cricket Is the Biggest Profit Generator for a Sattebaj
As a sattebaj, cricket will be your main revenue generator. Billions are wagered annually on the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008, the IPL is the most popular Twenty20 cricket league.
It has been estimated that every IPL match draws in more than ₹1000 crore (Roughly $135 million) in wagers across India with the biggest betting hubs in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Surat.
The busiest time of the year for bookies is during the seven-week IPL campaign.
That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of money to be made the rest of the year, though. Due to the rabid IPL fanbase, a number of Twenty20 state cricket leagues have launched in recent years.
Here are some of the most popular T20 domestic cricket competitions that are widely bet on:
- T20 Mumbai League: Started in 2018, eight teams compete for the championship.
- Tamil Nadu Premier League: Started in 2016, there are now eight teams in the league.
- Karnataka Premier League: Started in 2009, eight teams compete for the title.
- Celebrity Cricket League: Started in 2011, the CCL features nine teams of film actors.
Twenty20 cricket isn’t all that’s popular in India – there are lots of other competitions.
Some of the other popular cricket competitions in India throughout the year include the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
If you want to be a successful sattebaj in India, you need to have a big cricket betting board.
That’s where we come in. Our oddsmakers are experienced with managing cricket betting lines and we’ll ensure you have the best odds to generate the best overall hold percentage (profit).
What Other Sports Should Bookies Focus on Promoting?
You can easily make a great living as a cricket bookie, but why pass up profits from other sports?
Here are some of the other popular sports to bet on in India:
- Hockey: For years, hockey was known as India’s National Sport, but the Sports Ministry of India has stated in recent years that India doesn’t recognize any sport as their “National Game”. Despite the controversy, hockey is still bet on by millions of Indians.
- Football: This is another extremely popular sport in India. Football fans bet on domestic leagues like the Indian Super League as well as international leagues.
The English Premier League (EPL), UEFA Champions League and other popular football leagues worldwide are watched by millions of Indians and many of them enjoy betting on the matches.
One reason football betting is growing in popularity is because of the wealth of betting markets.
Our bookie software features betting markets on all of the big domestic and international football leagues. Finding a handicapper that consistently beats the EPL is rare. You want your players to gamble on sports where gaining an edge is tough because of the huge betting volumes.
- Tennis: Your players will love to bet on the vast amount of tennis betting markets we offer on our bookie software. Tennis has grown in popularity in India since the late 1990s.
The reason tennis has become more popular is because Indian players have performed very well in mixed doubles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles. Indian tennis players including Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza have all helped the sport grow in the country.
- Horse Racing: Indians have been betting on horse races for hundreds of years. The first racecourse in India opened in Madras in 1777. The country now has nine racetracks.
When you open a sattebaj with us, your players will be able to bet in a “racebook”.
A racebook allows a gambler to wager on horse races in India and abroad. You can earn a lot of extra revenues by having a racebook – a feature a lot of our competitors don’t offer bookies.
The Dubai World Cup Carnival is the most prestigious horse racing festival in the country.
Run an Online Poker Room Using Our Software
Teen patti and rummy may be the most popular card games in India, but poker is booming the last couple decades, as more gambling websites offer online poker rooms.
When you become a bookie in India using our software, you’ll be able to have a poker room as well where your players will be able to play for real money 24/7, earning you profits from the rake.
What’s great about offering online poker is that there’s no risk for the bookie. You earn money off of the rake you charge your players to play in cash games or tournaments (single or multi-table).
What other gambling software provider in India has the capabilities to allow new bookies to launch a sportsbook, racebook and poker room? We do all of this for a flat rate fee of just $10/head.
Read our in-depth guide on how to use our software to become a bookmaker next.