Sports betting has not been a pastime paid for through Visa. That oversight is on the way out.
Visa appears ready to establish a considerable presence inside brick-and-mortar sportsbooks nationwide. The company hopes to roll out Visa use at sportsbook windows in some jurisdictions within the next month, said Christopher Granger, U.S. Gaming & Lottery Lead at Visa Inc.
“It’s no surprise, the biggest time of the year in the U.S. for sports wagering is the NFL season,” Granger told Sports Handle. “We have a short window, so we’re trying to work with operators to at least get some test trials out there.”
Operators in a handful of states already accept Visa and MasterCard transactions for online sports betting. Visa, the world’s second-largest card organization, also offers deposit options at select sportsbooks outside the U.S.
Once customers can hand their Visa card at betting windows, the company is leaning toward accepting so-called “ready funds cards,” for sports wagers, Granger said. The payment delivery resembles a debit card, more than a credit card. The stipulation will require a customer to place a wager from their own funds, rather than an extension of credit.
Visa’s main competition in the sports betting space is from cash itself, Granger said during a panel session at the 2019 Global Gaming Expo recently held in Las Vegas. Although bettors are gradually migrating to mobile payments, sportsbooks for decades have accepted cash-only payments at their windows.
Online, numerous sportsbooks currently allow bettors to deposit funds into their wagering accounts from third-party vendors such as PayPal and Neteller. In turn, the PayPal accounts are linked to a customer’s checking account. But within the next two years, Visa could launch an omni-channel solution for gaming through a digital wallet. Experts see a cashless world where bettors might use the wallet to fund wagers inside a physical sportsbook and on the casino floor for slot machine credits.
Instead of making multiple trips to an ATM and a casino cage, a bettor will be able to manage funds on the same app with a single transaction. “Let’s electronify the space, get rid of cash and make it so it’s a more transparent and efficient way to transact a payment transaction,” Granger said.
During his keynote speech at G2E, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also addressed the topic of mobile betting among millennials and their preference for making transactions without cash. Christie shared an anecdote about how his 26-year-old-son tipped a valet through a Venmo transaction at a recent wedding, to illustrate millennials’ aversion for cash.
“If you don’t make mobile easy and accessible, they will not bet,” Christie said. “They just won’t.”
Prior to legalized sports betting in New Jersey, Boston College Professor Richard McGowan authored a study in which he found that Garden State residents spend an average of $340.70 per year on gambling. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins noted at a December 2018 gaming conference that the median bet at DraftKings Sportsbook remained under $10. Since then, there’s been little change in DraftKings’ median bet amounts, a DraftKings spokesman said.
Visa learned that most sports betting transactions fall into a range between $50 and $100, Granger said. The trends indicate that many bettors prefer to keep individual wagers around $10, while placing multiple bets under a single transaction. A bettor who places five separate $10 parlays on an NFL Sunday fits the profile.
Issuers have the right to set their own limits per transaction at the betting window, Granger said.
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement regulations allow for card acceptance in a face-to-face environment at brick-and-mortar sportsbooks, a spokesman said. The division, however, does not regulate merchant or interchange fees.
But before Visa tests the concept, the company has to deliver the payment devices to partnering sportsbooks, while ticket writers must complete card payment training.
“We just need to get over the operational hurdles,” Granger said.
