With modern technological advancements in the mobile sector, the Sports-Betting industry has witnessed a symbolic transformation and growth in the market. No longer are we stuck on physical-outlets and bookmakers, we are going online.
The reason for this transformation is the development of many online betting applications: offering wagers a safe, intuitive, and exciting betting experience from anywhere desired. Topping that off, the range of sports and other thrilling activities to bet on is also on a rapid hike.
With all of that comes a drive for creating innovative betting applications. For a business to develop a successful betting application today, there are some crucial elements of app development to keep in mind:
Table Of Content:
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Federal and App Store Licensing
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Resources
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Features-To-Provide
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Payment and Security
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Cost of development
Federal And App-Store Licensing
Legally, the Sports Betting and other gambling sectors saw expansion throughout the 19th century in the UK through various legal acts:
One primary act to look into is The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014. According to the local government site loc.gov: The Gaming Act 2005 permits ‘Online gambling’ and allows gambling companies to run advertisements. It also provides the Gambling Commission with ‘the authority to issue and oversee gambling licenses and ensure compliance with the 2005 act.’
While the relaxations on federal licensing have been significant throughout the last decade, it is still advisable to research the legal background for sports betting (especially for niche sports) in your area to help prevent any future mishap or unnecessary conviction.
While On the App-Store front:
Google:
After the long-standing reluctance to allow real-money betting applications on their mobile platforms (Android, ChromeOS), Google has recently announced that they will allow such apps after a policy update on March 1st this year. Considering how long it took for them to come to this decision, that makes for a great news-piece. The policy update also seems to be in line with The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014, which should also ensure a seamless business experience.
Apple:
On the other side of the wall, while Apple generally allows Online Betting Applications on their mobile platforms (iOS and iPadOS), it is a little complicated with them: They have specified that Gambling applications on their platforms have to be natively developed, and cannot just be containers ( e.g: apps using HTML5 games for betting ) for a website. That should not be much of an issue if you wish to build a betting app from scratch and keep their guidelines in mind.
Resources
Before getting started with the development journey, we have to realize that since building native applications are required for them to get hosted on each platform, we will have to develop two separate applications (Android and iOS).
Also undoubtedly, since most user interactions within the app will occur through the cloud, we also need to set up a server. Using cloud services such as AWS for algorithmic-automation (for predictions and security) and for the back-end support of the whole system, we can create a seamless and secure gaming experience for the clients.
Using SDKs (Software Development Kits) for Android and iOS, creating beautiful interactive experiences becomes a pleasant process. Not just that, various APIs (Application Programming Interface) are already developed and are available to utilize, making integrations with several payment services a breeze of a procedure.
Features-To-Provide
With the resources covered comes a question of what features to serve. While building and designing the app, the developers should be mindful of three things: Real-Time Information delivery, Accessibility, and Mobility.
Some of the ways to fulfill those needs are including app features such as follows:
User-Panel:
Sports–Range: One great way to analyze market reach for a Sports Betting business is to research the number of sports that it can cover. The fascinating thing is that Sports are not the only activities that can be covered. Non-sports activities, such as stocks and political elections, are also the activities on which people like to place bets. Not to mention, the recent surge in the e-sports market has made it one of the most profitable sports endeavour.
FAQ: FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions is an app section that answers the general questions about using the app. A decent FAQ section delivers comprehensive solutions to the most common issues the users might face within and while using the application.
Scheduling and Reminders: Having calendar integrations helps users keep-up with game schedules and reminders. On top of that, adding social interactions with other user-known wagers will keep the knit tight and the gaming experience exciting.
Player Information: It is crucial to have detailed information on the history of players or teams on which the wagers might bet. Without that, inhibiting confidence in the users and their decisions is an impossible task. If not rectified, the issue is certain to reduce the number of users on the application over time.
Live–Scores: Sports betting is an activity that is heavily reliant on real-time data. Without real-time data, wagers can miss out on a lot of profitable betting opportunities. Solving this issue is pretty simple: Introduce Live-Score Display. This will help wagers stay up-to-date with the happenings of on-going games and be able to make betting decisions in real-time.
Admin-Panel:
User–Management: This feature allows the admin to make a record of all the new, old, and inactive users, their payment methods, and their in-app data transactions.
Bookmaker–Management: This would provide admins the ability to set prices for the bids according to bookie information.
Dashboard: An overview of the activities taking place through the application can be displayed in this section of the app. This helps the admins look into and analyze anomalies, and help regulate the registered users.
Monetization: An overall management of the income generated from and within the application, alongside the management of various means of user-payment can be taken control from this section.
Customer–Support: Customer Support either makes or breaks a business experience. This section of the application helps customers communicate their issues with the company and get appropriate responses and solutions in return directly from the team involved.
Payment and Security
Trust and integrity are two departments that a betting company needs to shine at, which makes it important for us to acknowledge one thing: The Online Betting for a new customer is a risky endeavor, and to be able to undertake that issue using your services is the best bet for your business.
Two crucial steps need to be contemplated when undertaking these concerns:
1) Official Licensing, and
2) Clear-Cut Policies.
Official Licensing provides customers with confidence that their money is safe with the company and clear-cut policies make them aware of the company with whom they are dealing. Respecting and addressing these concerns will lead to a strong and healthy long-term business relationship.
Not just that, offering various means of payment including crypto-currencies such as bitcoin will bring in more users concerned with diversity and privacy. While using SSL certification covers up the security behind login and payment authentication, implementing two-factor authentication can never go wrong when it comes to this business.
The Cost
On average, developing a sports mobile application can cost anywhere between 1000£ to 30,000£, depending on the application type developed.
Since a Sports-Betting app is a Database-based application, the total expenditure for the app’s development should amount to range between 5000£ to 30,000£. Further on: the application features, services, and the resources required to run it can also impact the total cost.
The detailed development process and its cost are as follows:
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UI/UX: The UI/UX design cost for a betting application for 60 hours can cost from 800£ to 5000£.
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Front–end/Back–end Development: Front and Back-end development for 400 hours can cost anywhere between 6000£-25000£.
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API Integration: The Integration of APIs with other modules such as payment can cost around 3500£.
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Testing: The testing cost for about 80 hours can range from 1200£ to 3500£.
The Making
This post so far has acknowledged and laid-out the basic understanding of what it takes to build a sports betting app for your business. With that knowledge, and with a consistent (and perhaps evolving) service model and adherence to the local laws, one has the ability to currently create an absolute giant in this market. The tech is here, and the market is ripe. Now is the time to pluck and serve.