During the coronavirus pandemic when major sports shut down, a Russian table tennis league, Russian Liga Pro, continued as if Covid-19 had never happened. With little else to wager on, bettors flocked to the matches. When sports returned, Russian Liga Pro didn’t fade away as a bettor option, as many expected.
“For some reason, table tennis still ranks pretty high in Colorado,” said Ryan Rodenberg, a Florida State University associate professor who focuses on sports law. “Some fans must have found it attractive during the shutdown when there was nothing else to bet on and have stuck with it.”
This segues into tennis played on courts and not tables. Tennis ranks behind soccer and basketball in popularity in European markets not part of the U.K. In the U.S., tennis has failed to excite sports bettors.
“Tennis betting is almost entirely about the majors,” said John Murray, executive director of sportsbook operations for the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas.
The sport needs the likes of a Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi to attract wagers. Tennis betting amounts to 1 percent of Westgate’s handle. 1 percent would be considered a huge uptick in Baldini’s Casino in Northern Nevada. Manager Robert Kowalski said mobile betting and in-match options could be the ticket to do that, according to CDC Gaming Reports.
“People are betting more in-play than pre-game,” he said. “Every point, how many faults, there are so many ways to bet.”
Matthew Trenhaile, a London-based betting industry analyst, said the large number of matches throughout the world provides bettors with a continual opportunity. If only the U.S. could find the next Serena Williams.
“U.S. tennis would benefit from more top-level players with a strong social-media presence,” he said.
Another issue inhibiting the growth of wagering on tennis relates to a reputation deserved or not as a sport susceptible to match fixing. A player can just say I can’t play after starting a match.
Westgate’s sportsbook has a requirement that all bets are off if the match is not completed. Others insist at least one set be completed. A 2016 BBC investigation showed 16 of the top 50 players may have fixed a match over the course of a decade. For minor league competition, players could make more money throwing a match than they can earn in legitimate games.
“A lot of the guys who are grinding on that part of the tour, they have a tough time making ends meet on tournament winnings,” said Drew Dinsick, a sports betting analyst for NBC Sports Edge and an avid tennis bettor. “You’re traveling around the world, you’re paying trainers, and you’re staying in hotels. It’s a pretty costly sport if you’re not from a wealthy family.”
The International Tennis Federation ordered an independent look into such situations and recommended among other things a ban on the sale of official data for low level competition such as the Futures Tour.
“The vast majority of tennis at this level is played in absolutely the right way and trying to adopt a prohibition approach is not the right answer,” said David Lampitt, managing director of sports partnerships for Sportradar, a leading sports data provider. “Ensuring that the market is appropriately controlled and monitored is far better than saying we’re going to discontinue betting. This could push [wagering] into the shadows and create a black market.”
Dinsick stresses the possibilities for in-match wagering. “Compare it to something like soccer. You’ll get a goal every 30 minutes, whereas [in tennis] you’re going to have swings in-match five, 10, 20 times, depending on whether it’s a best of three, best of five. There are a lot more buy-low, sell-high opportunities in tennis than any other sport except for maybe the NBA.”
Dinsick feels that prop bets—how many aces a match will feature or which player will win the next point—are great ways to get people involved.”
