Stock trading and legal sports betting share many traits and a customer base, and now the U.S. has an app that marries the two.
Philadelphia-based Sporttrade announced yesterday that it has joined the New Jersey sports betting market, becoming the first (and only) regulated "sports trading" platform in the U.S.
"We set out to create a better and more modern sports betting platform tapping into Americans' passion for trading" said Alex Kane, Founder and CEO of Sporttrade.
Sporttrade brings a capital markets-like approach and, as a result, the platform is unlike traditional sportsbooks as Sporttrade is not the "house." Each "bet" is made against another bettor, with Sporttrade taking a commission. Similar to a stock, the price of the "bet" changes over time and you can buy/sell in real time to cut your losses or get out with a profit.
"We believe we are defining a whole new category of sports wagering — trading sports," Kane added.
Founded in 2018, some of the benefits of the platform is that Sporttrade’s commission is lower than the vig an online sportsbook bakes into their odds, and you can set your own price on any given matchup.
On the other hand, liquidity will be key. Being able to set your price and cash out early is only good if Sporttrade has enough bettors so the games are fairly priced. For that same reason, at the time of launch trading is only available on win/loss outcomes, spreads, and Over/Unders for NFL, college football, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NHL, golf and college basketball — there are no prop bets currently traded.
Sporttrade is also expected to launch in Colorado, Louisiana, and Indiana in the near future.
Rise in non-traditional betting
Sports betting is growing, the summer betting slowdown has ended, and there are becoming more regulated ways for people to bet — outside of traditional markets.
Year-to-date sports betting revenue, as of August, was $3.45 billion, up 62.7%. The total handle was $50.7 billion — an 88.3% jump. With these numbers, it's not surprising that Sporttrade is not alone in testing new styles of betting.
Last week, PlayUp partnered with BetSwap and plans to launch a platform that allows bettors to buy and sell existing bet slips.
Last month, Betr launched its app in the U.S., focusing on micro-betting, which allows users to wager on specific upcoming plays in a game and is rapidly rising in popularity. Right now, only a free-to-play version of Betr is available, but regulated cash-wagers are expected to hit the market soon.
