Over the last year, the sports and sports betting world has seen many an interesting storyline due to the pandemic. One of the most interesting, however, is the rise of table tennis betting, of all things.
Table tennis betting has proven to be especially popular in the state of Colorado. Colorado bettors wagered almost $11 million last month on table tennis alone. That is especially astounding considering there was a higher volume of bets on table tennis than on soccer, a sport that offers a large amount of variety daily.
Why does table tennis betting continue to be popular in the state even with major sports in action? There are a number of reasons to consider.
Table Tennis Betting Offers Many Matches
One of the biggest factors driving table tennis betting’s popularity is the sheer amount of available offerings.
On the Flashscore score tracking app, there are over 600 table tennis matches listed for today as of writing. That appears to be less than each of the last several days, which have seen over 700 scheduled matches. Even if a quarter or even a tenth of those matches are available in Colorado’s online sportsbooks, that is still a significant amount of available action.
A fair assumption to make is that there are fewer large bets on table tennis than, say, NFL betting. That is due to bet limits and limited intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of table tennis. Those factors make table tennis betting riskier than betting on the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, or Colorado Avalanche, for example. But even a mass of small bets is going to add up with dozens or hundreds of daily matches.
Table Tennis Betting Has A Loyal Following
Last March, sports came to a halt due to the pandemic. The college basketball season came to a premature end. Along with the NBA and NHL seasons coming to a halt, major soccer leagues around the world also paused or ended early. Also, the MLB season, which was scheduled to start on March 26, was pushed back to July 23. As a result, there was very little to bet on for a few months.
Table tennis was one of the things to fill the void in that time period, along with the equally mysterious Russian Liga Pro short hockey, South Korean baseball, and eSports. Even with the sports world seeing a return to some normalcy in the summer, it’s reasonable to assume that a good portion of those still entrenched in table tennis betting are loyal holdovers from those barren months.
Action and Adventure For Bettors
One of the biggest factors to consider is the fast-paced nature of table tennis. Table tennis matches take very little time to complete, even if they go the maximum five sets.
That is a draw for sports bettors who might not have the time or desire to follow hours of action. The quick turnaround in matches also offers the ability for quick wager grading and being able to move on to the next match.
Table tennis betting is also a hit because of the adventure involved. Compared to the major sports, there is not a level of intimate knowledge or investment in the participants.
Will table tennis continue to be popular in Colorado in 2021? Will another sport or league draw the interest of adventurous bettors?
