New Virtual Sports from UFC to eHockey: A Fast Growing Niche

Betby, a well known B2B sportsbook solutions provider, announced in March that it would be adding new products to its collection of virtual sports. We will see virtual MMA fights, hockey games, and Teqball matches in the near future, in what is a revolutionary new expansion in one of the world’s largest growing sports betting trends. Sure, it is niche, in fact, virtual sports betting is a very niched form of betting that most US bettors and Europeans treat as an auxiliary extra function at their sportsbooks. But, the statistics would suggest otherwise.

Studies about virtual sports betting have shown that this is actually one of the fastest growing sectors within the industry, and that it holds an estimated 10-20% of the overall sports betting market. There are still hurdles that virtual sports needs to overcome, one of the biggest is the trust factor – as these do not use real world unpredictability, but use RNGs to create engaging content. Something that you could say was a slot machine in disguise. But as the technology advances, the myths about these products are slowly being answered, and with the potential addition of virtual UFC fights, it could inject a lot of interest in this betting niche.

Betby New Virtual UFC and More

These new titles are expected to debut soon, and as a tier 1 sportsbook supplier, Betby will not be short of suitors to launch the betting products for sports fans. Betby will expand its virtual sports line with eHockey, eMMA and eTeqball, reinforcing the supplier’s reputation as a pioneering studio that continuously pushes the boundaries in this niche.

The Head of Innovation stated that creating original content has always been a core vision of Betby, and that these new additions are intended to diversify their portfolio. Right now, that virtual sports portfolio consists of soccer, basketball, horse racing, tennis, dog racing, and cricket. Virtual soccer is by far its biggest product, with over 5,000 games simulated per day, compared to the 3,000+ on basketball and the 1,500+ for all other sports.

Defining Virtual Sports

For those who have never experienced or even heard of virtual sports, these are basically computer-simulated versions of sports games or races. They have been, in the past more than now, categorized as a subgenre of eSports betting events, but don’t be fooled. These are nothing to do with eSports betting like NBA2K or FIFA. These are sports games that are simulated by computers, with no human input, and designed to run 24/7.

The graphics have come a long way since these virtual sports first hit the market, and now you can get high definition streams, multiple camera angles, and smooth running performances that can be watched from desktop and mobile devices alike.

The big pull of these betting niches is that they run 24/7, have loads of betting markets and live betting opportunities, and you can always watch the live streams directly from the sportsbook. They aren’t completely random events with fictitious sports teams and made up leagues either. You can watch a simulated Premier League soccer game featuring Liverpool vs Chelsea, or tune into a virtual NBA game between the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics.

While there may be pregame betting opportunities, virtual sports are more about simulating the live betting experiences. You get minute markets, live parlay bets, bets on the next minutes of action, and real time generated odds, to reflect what you see in the stream.

The Potential of the New Virtuals

And now, it looks like hockey, MMA and Teqball are all going to be thrown into the mix. For hockey fans, the product will have four tournaments representing the NHL’s divisions (Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central and Pacific). The games will have 15+ hockey betting markets to pick from, and Betby is projecting over 11,000 games per month.

Teqball, the game that combines soccer and table tennis, is a trending sport, but one that falls outside mainstream sports to bet on. You won’t even find many sportsbooks offering betting markets on real life Teqball leagues, but with this addition, you may not need to. The sport will include over 20 betting markets for Teqball virtuals, starting with the TQX Hungary cup, a double mixed tournament.

But perhaps the most eye-catching, and prospective, of the trio is the eMMA. The virtuals will cover a UFC Legends and UFC Women Legends, simulating fights between iconic fighters. These two tournaments are expected to provide over 15,000 fights per month – so there will be ample opportunity to bet on UFC between fight nights – and there will be plenty of UFC betting markets to pick from. The eMMA will pair well-known fighters from UFC history, which will definitely attract fans of the genre.

Concerns About Virtual Sports Betting

The idea behind virtual sports was not to create something to replace the thrill of betting on real life sports, but instead to give bettors an alternative. Specifically, one that can be enjoyed in the time around big games or during the offseason. Instead of waiting for a game to start, the virtual sports run nonstop, so there are always soccer games, horse races, and even cricket fixtures to bet on.

But at the same time, these do not provide the same level of authenticity as real life games. They run on algorithms, programmed to give you outcomes that are simulated by Random Number Generators. Much like RNG table games, video poker, and slots. Sports fans who don’t like virtual sports will claim that they are rigged, or that they are the same as playing a slot machine.

Randomized vs Real

They are right in one way. The virtual sports do run with similar programs as slot outcomes that are randomized, simulated dice throws, and randomly shuffled card decks are digitally recreated. However, they are definitely not rigged. These games can provide the same kind of unpredictability, big upsets or turnarounds, and surprising outcomes as real life sports. The only difference is that they use random sequences determined by professional coding.

This is enough to turn off some sports bettors entirely. They quickly jump to the conclusion that a game is rigged when losing – but wouldn’t make the same assumptions (with the same determination) if they lost a sports bet because a player fumbled or a referee made a bad choice. Sports betting also has that skill based element, where it feels like you can use expertise or statistical research to gain an edge in your bets.

The truth is, your guess is as good as anyone’s, and while you can do your homework to make a more informed decision, it will not save you from variance, external impacts, or impossible to research minutiae such as a player’s confidence levels or a team’s chemistry on game day.

Virtual Sports vs Overall Market

A study at Grand View Research suggests that the virtual sports betting industry is growing. It was estimated at $13.5 billion in 2022, and the projections show it could exceed $47 billion by 2030. Just for context, the global sports betting market size was estimated at $100.9 billion in 2024 (around $83.66 bn in 2022), which means virtual sports accounts for approximately 15% of the entire industry.

The most popular virtual sport, by a longshot, is soccer. This is the one you find the most at sportsbooks, and has the most leagues, games, and all round betting coverage. Next up are the horse racing and greyhound racing virtual sports. These are quite popular at retail betting shops as well, where you may know them as Historical Horse Racing Machines, and they can give you all kinds of horse racing bets, with nonstop action. Other growing sectors include motorsports, basketball, tennis, cricket and golf.

Virtual sports are still considered niche and outside the mainstream betting preferences in Europe and the US, but they are quite strong in the African (Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana), Eastern European (Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria), and Latin American (Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico) markets. Sure, they won’t beat the real life sports betting markets, but virtuals are used as a core betting product in these regions, rather than as an extra auxiliary product (or something to play in the offseason).

An Industry on an Upward Trajectory

There is definitely a lot of room for these virtual sports to grow, and the addition of hockey, Teqball and UFC, or MMA, will definitely bring traction to this niche. Particularly the UFC. Considering that there is usually around 2-3 weeks between fight nights (less in some cases, but this is followed by longer off periods), there is a lot of waiting time between key fights. Plus, this UFC Legend tournament, which can feature former legends and pit them in fights – think Jon Jones vs Conor McGregor, or Khabib Nurmagomedov taking on Anderson Silva – can settle important historic GOAT arguments and give fans fights that make up the stuff of dreams.

Sure, it is not real, but neither are the digitalized spinning reels in slot machines, the roulette ball rolling physics in RNG games, or even those cards in a computerized game of blackjack. But the difference is that these games give people build up and an engaging event to watch, during which they can make important bets, cash out ongoing wagers, and potentially even hedge wagers to cut their losses.

Virtual Sports as an Emerging Genre

Virtual sports are no longer the extra category that is tucked away as a subgenre of eSports betting, or crammed in a corner to fill up the A-Z sports categories. More sportsbooks have adopted the technology, you can even find betting sites with entire portals and main lobbies dedicated to these, and while it still has to win the trust of many an ardent bettor – who want the realism and authentic unpredictability – the games are becoming more technologically advanced.

Many of the top betting sites around the world are now putting special focus on this niche. The top betting brands that have adopted and refined virtual sports include:

• Bet365
• BetFair
• DraftKings
• William Hill
• PointsBet
• 888 Holdings

And there are loads of suppliers, including SBTech, Scientific Games, Kambi Group, and Playtech, to mention but a few.

They may never take over real life sports betting, but virtual sports are becoming a more prominent option for bettors who love the live betting experience and would rather bet on virtual Manchester Utd vs Arsenal games over real life obscure games such as an Australian tier 2 soccer game or a Czech U19 fixture. The space is bound to grow, and with it, bettors have far more options than ever before.