It is an understatement to say that sports betting is becoming increasingly popular. Many new players in the market have created their own sports betting platforms to capitalize on this still-young industry.
In this guide, we’ll dive into sports betting app development. Before we kick off, keep in mind that this is not supposed to be by any means a comprehensive, technical guide on how to develop an app – rather an overview of the factors to consider when undertaking this task, with an emphasis on data. That’s because, as a leading sports data provider, OddsMatrix believes that data should be at the forefront of every healthy gambling business.
Without further ado, let’s dive in!
First, let’s start from the beginning and work our way up from here. In short, a sports betting app is any website, mobile, or desktop application that allows users to place bets on sports events.
While sports betting apps will often attempt to distinguish themselves from one another aesthetically and functionality-wise, most apps share the same core features: viewing stats, placing wagers on upcoming matches, and tracking historical game data.
The costs of developing a sports betting app depend on the project’s scope and scale and the team’s seniority.
A sports betting app with basic, industry-standard features can cost about $55,000 to build from the ground up. However, the total cost can be as low as $40,000 for a minimum viable product (MVP). MVPs can be a great starting point because they provide the minimum requirements and allow the business to test the waters.
As for monetization models, here’s a brief rundown of the costs:
How it works: The platform takes a small margin on every bet placed, commonly known as the “vig” or “juice.”
Instead of betting against the house, users bet against each other or the odds, which are subtly adjusted to ensure the operator retains a profit over time. Its main advantage is that it scales well and doesn’t rely on aggressive user spending or upselling.
Example: A platform offers odds of 1.90 on both sides of a football match. For every $100 bet, the bookmaker retains roughly $5 as profit over time due to the margin built into the odds.
Best for: Traditional sportsbooks, peer-to-peer betting platforms, and exchanges.
How it works: Users pay a recurring fee to access premium content, features, or early betting opportunities.
Subscription models work well for platforms that provide analytical insights, exclusive odds, fantasy betting tools, or enhanced user experiences. It builds a reliable revenue stream while creating loyalty and encouraging higher engagement. Free tiers can be used to attract new users, with paid tiers offering real value.
Example: A sports analytics betting app charges $14.99/month for access to AI-generated predictions and early betting markets.
Best for: Tipster services, fantasy sports platforms, and data-driven betting tools.
How it works: The platform earns commissions by referring users to partner sportsbooks, casinos, or data providers.
Affiliate programs are a great fit for content-rich websites or apps that attract betting audiences but don’t host wagering themselves. By directing traffic to licensed operators through tracking links, you can earn revenue shares on referred players, typically as a percentage of their net losses or deposits.
Example: A blog reviewing betting platforms earns a 30% revenue share each time a user signs up and deposits via its affiliate link.
Best for: Betting blogs, review platforms, sports influencers, and community-driven apps.
How it works: Users buy virtual tokens, credits, or upgrades within the app for a better or gamified experience.
Often used in social betting or hybrid gambling apps, microtransactions allow you to monetize free users without requiring real-money wagering. These transactions can unlock advanced features, remove ads, or offer cosmetic customizations, which encourages long-term engagement and steady revenue from high-frequency users.
Example: A free betting simulator offers users 1,000 tokens for $4.99 to place more simulated bets or compete in premium tournaments.
Best for: Social betting apps, gamified experiences, and free-to-play models.
How it works: The platform sells ad space or integrates sponsored content for additional revenue.
If your platform attracts high traffic or offers unique sports content, advertising can become a meaningful monetization channel. You can implement banner ads, native content, or sponsorships from bookmakers and leagues. The key is balancing monetization with user experience to avoid overwhelming your users with ads.
Example: A football betting community app displays sponsored odds feeds and banner ads from sportsbook partners during high-traffic events.
Best for: High-traffic betting communities; free-to-use apps; sports content aggregators.
How it works: You license your betting software platform to other businesses under a white-label agreement.
If you’ve developed proprietary sportsbook or betting software, you can offer it to operators who want to launch their own platforms without building from scratch. You provide the backend and infrastructure, while your clients manage branding, marketing, and front-end customization.
Example: A software company licenses its turnkey sports betting platform to regional operators for $50,000/year plus a revenue share.
Best for: B2B sports betting tech providers, SaaS platforms, and enterprise-grade solutions.
Hidden costs to plan for:
| Category | Cost Type | Notes |
| Licensing | Recurring | $15K–$100K+ yearly (jurisdiction-dependent) |
| Data Provider Fees | Monthly/API | $1K–$10K/month (e.g., Sportradar, Genius) |
| Payment Processing | Per transaction | 2%–6% per transaction |
| Hosting & Scalability | Monthly | $200 – $5,000/month depending on load |
| Security & Compliance | One-time/setup | $5K–$20K for audits, KYC, encryption |
Launching a betting website requires a solid grasp of the legal and regulatory landscape in the regions where the platform will operate. Gambling legislation varies across jurisdictions, shaping key aspects such as licensing procedures, payment systems, marketing permissions, and user access. Failing to adhere to local laws can result in financial penalties, service suspensions, or restrictions from payment processors and search engines.
Securing a valid gambling license is a foundational step in building a compliant operation. Well-regarded jurisdictions like Malta, the United Kingdom, Curacao, and Gibraltar offer differing levels of oversight, tax structures, and market reach. Holding a recognized license enhances your platform’s reputation, ensures adherence to anti-money laundering standards, and supports responsible gambling practices. It also opens doors to partnerships with trusted payment providers and affiliate networks that often require verification of licensing status.
That being said, here are the top gambling jurisdictions, compared:
| Jurisdiction | License Cost (est.) | Timeline | Tax Rate | Key Benefits |
| Curacao | $15,000–25,000/year | 4–8 weeks | 0–2% (on profits) | Affordable, fast, crypto-friendly |
| Malta (MGA) | €25,000–35,000/year | 3–6 months | 5% on GGR | Strong EU reputation, accepted across Europe |
| Isle of Man | £35,000+ | 3–5 months | 1.5% on GGR | Reputable, highly stable, preferred by PSPs |
| Gibraltar | £100,000+ | 6+ months | 1% on turnover | Elite reputation, ideal for larger operators |
| Kahnawake | $30,000+ | 2–3 months | Varies | North America-friendly, reasonable entry costs |
| UK (UKGC) | £30,000–£300,000 | 6–12 months | Varies | Required to target UK players, strictest rules |
On a general level, the type of sports app you choose should align with your business goals. Luckily, there are only 4 main types to choose from. Here’s a brief rundown of them:
Fantasy sports betting apps tap into a different type of engagement. Instead of betting on match outcomes, users draft virtual teams of real-world athletes and score points based on their performance. It’s a more strategic and social betting experience, often running over daily, weekly, or seasonal cycles. Unlike traditional sportsbooks, fantasy apps focus less on odds and more on roster management, live scoring, and community contests.
What sets fantasy betting apps apart is their flexible monetization structure. Operators can earn revenue through entry fees, subscriptions, or microtransactions. And depending on the jurisdiction, fantasy sports often fall under different legal classifications than gambling, which opens the door to markets with stricter betting regulations.
eSports betting apps cater to one of the fastest-growing segments in the global wagering ecosystem. Focused on titles like League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, and Valorant, these apps replicate traditional sportsbook mechanics but within a gaming context. They allow users to bet on tournament results, live matches, or even in-game events like first blood or map winners.
Launching an eSports betting app requires more than plugging into existing sportsbook frameworks. Odds providers for eSports are more specialized, and the data feeds need to reflect the unique pacing and unpredictability of digital competition. On top of that, user acquisition strategies are different, esports audiences are community-driven, highly online, and skeptical of traditional marketing. For brands that understand gaming culture, however, eSports apps present a huge opportunity to stand out with a tailor-made experience.
Pari-mutuel betting apps operate on a pooled system, where all bets on a particular outcome go into a shared pot and payouts are determined by dividing the pool among winning bets after the house takes a cut. Most commonly associated with horse racing and greyhound racing, this model eliminates fixed odds and instead relies on shifting probabilities based on total user activity.
This type of app can be a strong choice in markets where racing is culturally ingrained or regulated differently from standard sports betting. Because payouts are dynamic, there’s no need for an in-house odds team or trading desk, making operations leaner. However, pari-mutuel systems require absolute transparency and trust in the mechanics, so clear design and live pool updates are recommended. It’s a model that thrives on volume and event frequency, offering players a more community-driven betting format.
One of the first decisions you’ll face when developing a betting platform is choosing the right foundation to build on. Do you want full control with a custom-coded system? A fast-launch white-label solution? Or the flexibility of open-source tools? Each option comes with trade-offs: cost, speed, customization, and long-term scalability.
White-label platforms are turnkey solutions offered by third-party providers. You get a pre-built sportsbook or betting app framework that’s branded as your own, complete with odds feeds, payment integration, admin dashboards, and sometimes even licensing assistance.
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: New market entrants, affiliates upgrading to operator status, or regional operators testing demand.
Open-source betting platforms provide access to the codebase, usually for free or with minimal licensing costs. They allow for a high degree of flexibility but require in-house development talent or a trusted dev agency. You can build exactly what you want—but you’ll also need to manage updates, security, and scalability yourself.
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Operators with a strong dev team or agencies building bespoke solutions for clients.
Proprietary platforms are built entirely in-house, often from the ground up. This is the most resource-intensive option but offers unmatched flexibility, control, and long-term differentiation. You’re not relying on third-party vendors—you own every line of code, every feature, and every integration.
This route often requires a larger investment of time and capital but makes sense for companies with ambitious product roadmaps or plans to license their software in the future.
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Mature companies, tech-first betting startups, or enterprise-level operators aiming for long-term ownership.
In an increasingly competitive industry, up-and-coming betting businesses have to go beyond making it easier for users to place wagers—even with the risk-averse nature of a minimal viable product.
Broadly, there are two areas to consider when developing a sports betting app – the user and admin sides. The user side must contain all the functionalities that allow for a seamless and intuitive user experience, from features as basic as registration and login to gaming-specific things like live betting, real-time odds, and so on. The admin side doubles as the engine and logistical center of the app – so features that allow for easy management, data analysis updates, risk management, and odds management, among other things, are a must.
Here’s a handy checklist if you want the short version of this guide:
| Step | Task | Purpose |
| 1. Market Research | Analyze target markets, competitors, and customer preferences. | Ensures the platform is tailored to user demand and meets regulatory feasibility. |
| 2. Legal Framework | Understand local laws, obtain appropriate licenses (e.g., Malta, UKGC), and ensure regulatory compliance. | Avoids legal issues and builds operational credibility. |
| 3. Define Business Model | Choose between B2B, B2C, or white-label solutions; define revenue streams (e.g., commissions, odds margin). | Shapes product strategy and long-term scalability. |
| 4. Choose Tech Stack | Select front-end (React, Vue.js), mobile (Swift, Kotlin), backend (Node.js, Laravel), database (MySQL, PostgreSQL). | Establishes technical foundation and performance capacity. |
| 5. Design UX/UI | Develop an intuitive interface with fast navigation, live odds display, and responsive layouts. | Enhances user experience and retention. |
| 6. Integrate Odds & Data Feeds | Use providers like OddsMatrix for live and pre-match odds, real-time updates, and sports coverage. | Enables accurate betting functionality and broad sports access. |
| 7. Payment Gateway Integration | Support multiple secure payment options (cards, e-wallets, crypto), and ensure fraud prevention. | Facilitates user deposits/withdrawals and ensures financial compliance. |
| 8. Risk Management Tools | Implement bet limits, margin management, and alerts for suspicious behavior. | Protects platform integrity and profitability. |
| 9. User Account Management | Set up registration, KYC processes, self-exclusion tools, and user dashboards. | Ensures secure and responsible gambling. |
| 10. Mobile Compatibility | Optimize for mobile responsiveness or develop native apps. | Captures the growing mobile betting market. |
| 11. Affiliate and CRM Tools | Add referral tracking, loyalty rewards, and promotional messaging systems. | Boosts acquisition and customer lifetime value. |
| 12. Testing & QA | Conduct functional, security, and stress tests before launch. | Ensures platform stability and security. |
| 13. Go-to-Market Strategy | Launch with marketing campaigns, influencer partnerships, and SEO content. | Drives initial user traffic and builds brand awareness. |
| 14. Post-Launch Monitoring | Use analytics tools to track behavior, A/B test features, and optimize performance. | Supports ongoing improvement and user engagement. |
Great and mediocre apps have lived and died by their user interface. Apps have become so ubiquitous that users know at a glance whether the product is for them. If not, three minutes of frustration caused by clunky interface design is all it takes for them to switch to the competition.
Since sports betting apps are all about user retention, you must nail the user side of your product.
Obviously, your sports betting app needs an easy-to-go-through registration and login process. Ideally, the onboarding process should start immediately after registration.
The “Create a Wager” function is at the core of any sports betting experience. Whether it’s a traditional pre-match bet, an in-play market, or a custom prop bet, users need a fast and intuitive interface that lets them browse odds, select outcomes, and place their wager with minimal friction. A clean, modular betting slip that updates dynamically as users make selections is key. This is where speed and responsiveness matter, especially during live events where the odds change by the second.
Modern users also expect flexibility in how they place their bets. Parlay builders, cash-out previews, stake sliders, and real-time potential payouts all contribute to an informed and engaging experience. The ability to create a custom bet or challenge a friend with a social wager is increasingly becoming a differentiator, particularly for newer demographics who want more than a traditional “win-draw-win” option.
The menu bar is the anchor of your app’s navigation; it’s what guides users through sports, live events, account settings, and promotions. It needs to be simple, persistent, and instantly recognizable, no matter where a user lands. Most successful sportsbooks use a sticky bottom navigation bar on mobile and a collapsible sidebar on desktop to maintain consistency across devices. Clarity beats clutter here: icons should be intuitive, labels short, and structure optimized for quick access to betting markets.
More than just a UX element, the menu bar also plays a commercial role. Smart operators use it to surface live odds, highlight current promos, or spotlight major events. If you’ve just gone live with boosted odds for the Champions League or launched a new casino integration, your menu bar is the most valuable real estate to push that content.
Notifications are one of the most underutilized tools in the betting product arsenal. A well-timed push alert can drive users back into the app, inform them of market movements, or prompt them to complete a pending bet. But relevance is everything: generic alerts are ignored, while personalized messages based on betting history, favorite teams, or live events tend to generate higher engagement and conversion.
For best results, notifications should be programmable via a backend marketing console, allowing your CRM or product team to build segmented campaigns. Examples include: “Your bet just cashed out for €42,” or “90th minute – 1 goal away from winning your parlay!” Tied to real-time events, these alerts help turn passive users into active bettors.
The betting wallet is the financial engine behind every user interaction. It should display real-time balances, settled bets, bonuses, and pending withdrawals—all without requiring a page refresh. A good wallet implementation feels invisible: money moves fast, deposits are confirmed instantly, and cashouts are smooth and predictable. Anything less introduces friction that can kill user trust.
Just as important is clarity. Users should always know what funds are available to bet, which are locked in wagers, and what’s tied to bonus terms. The wallet should also integrate seamlessly with payment gateways, supporting multiple currencies, crypto, and region-specific methods like Trustly or Paytm. For regulated markets, KYC status and responsible gambling limits should also be surfaced here.
While it might seem like a “nice to have” type of feature, with a betting history, users get a high degree of control and agency over their betting activity; it’s an easy way for users to track their wins, losses, and current standings. Coupled with a data aggregator that tracks their historical progress on your app, this duo of features can boost user retention and engagement by providing a framework for users to set goals and limits for their betting efforts.
Variety is the spice of life, as that old saying goes – and the same principle applies to betting. Along with the selection of sports and events, betting platforms need to provide betting options to stay competitive. For more details about betting types and the intricacies of modern bookmaking platforms, make sure to check out our guide.
Meanwhile, let’s go through the most common betting types:
While live betting is yet another type of betting, it deserves a separate section due to its popularity among bettors and ubiquity in the gambling industry.
Also known as “in-play betting,” live betting is a continuous form of gambling that takes place as the game develops. Meanwhile, odds are automatically updated in the background to reflect the realities of the game. It’s essentially an “upgraded” form of betting that evolved with the advent of mobile betting.
For this reason, live betting is obviously a must-have for every betting platform. There’s a catch: due to its live nature, in-play betting is particularly vulnerable to bad actors. To help bookies mitigate and proactively prevent these risks, OddsMatrix provides a suite of risk management tools designed to analyze player behavior, spot system vulnerabilities, and propose solutions.
Another essential component of in-live betting is real-time odds – you just can’t have one without the other. OddsMatrix also provides the infrastructure for this in the form of odds management tools and odds feeds. With these tools, bookies can access up-to-date odds and adjust them according to player behavior and in-game events.
The next item on the list is payment. To accept payments from customers, you will have to partner with a dedicated service. If you want to keep users on your platform, you have to make it very easy for them to deposit and withdraw money with just a few taps.
Broadly, these are payment methods commonly used by sports betting platforms:
Other must-have functionalities to implement on the user side:
First, we need to define what we mean by “admin side.”
Broadly, the admin side of a sports betting app should revolve around two concepts: management and data. In management and data, we include everything related to keping track of customer activity, building new features on top of existing infrastructure, updating and editing the app’s content, tracking and analyzing data, and many other things.
Let’s go through them one by one:
Data analysis features help bookmakers not only monitor user engagement levels, but also understand short and long term usage trends and identify gaps. You could discover, for example, that a certain feature (or sport/event) is underperforming, and take measures to promote it more effectively through in-app messages or promotions.
But this is just one use case – in fact, data sits at the very heart of every successful bookmaking business. At OddsMatrix, our mission is to provide bookmakers with scalable sports data solutions and tools that are easy to manage and integrate with existing tool stacks.
For example, bookmakers can access data feeds specifically tailored to each sport and competition. Some of the features found within these sports data feeds are:
As your operation grows, you’ll need to invest more resources and manpower into your security infrastructure. Our opinion is that the sooner bookmakers make this financial “jump” (ideally from the development stage), the better they are equipped to deal with future threats to their operation.
In this case, by “security infrastructure,” we’re referring to tools designed specifically to tackle threats arising from betting activities.
OddsMatrix comes with a suite of risk management tools optimized for all risk scenarios, such as:
In software and app development, tech stacks dictate the language, coding framework, and database used to develop the app.
While the specifics might differ depending on the company, most betting platforms employ the same tech stacks. For starters, you might want to consider:
Beyond the core components, it’s essential to integrate services that ensure high performance, security, and scalability. Betting platforms typically experience high traffic volumes, especially during peak sports events, which demands the use of load balancers, CDNs (Content Delivery Networks), and auto-scaling server infrastructure—often built using cloud services like AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure. These technologies help maintain speed and uptime, which are critical for retaining users in real-time betting environments.
Security also plays a central role in shaping the tech stack. Sports betting platforms must implement robust encryption protocols such as TLS, along with firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and secure authentication mechanisms like OAuth 2.0 or multi-factor authentication. Regulatory compliance requirements, such as those related to Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML), must be supported by secure and auditable infrastructure. This often involves integrating with third-party identity verification APIs and maintaining secure data storage practices.
Finally, analytics and personalization are key differentiators in today’s competitive betting market. Integrating technologies such as Apache Kafka or RabbitMQ for real-time data streaming, combined with AI-driven recommendation engines, can elevate user engagement by delivering tailored content, odds, and promotions. For ongoing development, tools like Docker and Kubernetes can streamline deployment and scaling, while CI/CD pipelines ensure rapid updates and bug fixes without major downtime.
As stated above, data sits at the core of every healthy sports betting outfit. However, good, relevant data is hard to come by, which is why an entire industry providing good-quality sports data curated to the needs of the client has sprung up to fill the gap.
The things to look out for when choosing a sports data provider are the following:
OddsMatrix is the leading sports data provider that helps bookies make data-informed decisions
by continuously investing in the best technologies and tools. Here’s a brief overview of our main features:
This is a tricky, difficult, but entirely necessary step that you should handle together with developing the sports betting website itself.
For starters, to legally run a sports betting platform, you will need a gaming license. This is mandatory in most countries, but before that, you might want to check a list of countries where gambling is legal in the first place.
Then, you’ll need to consider jurisdiction. Some places are stricter regarding regulations and others, while others are more lax.
The necessary documentation will depend on the jurisdiction. But, as a general rule, the large majority will ask for details regarding business models, target markets, risk management procedures, and, most importantly, responsible gaming policies. The next phase is compliance, which involves implementing safety controls such as age verification, deposit limits, self-exclusion programs, etc. The entire legal process, from kick-off to greenlight, takes about two years.
Even so, this is a mere rundown. You might have to overcome some extra hurdles to get your gaming website 100% approved and compliant.
Your sports betting website or app must be ready for the future, and customizability and scalability are two key factors here. This is because, down the line, you’ll most likely accumulate an increasingly varied suite of tools to meet business and user needs. Not just backend tools for odds tracking, customer analytics, payment processing, troubleshooting technical issues, encryption, and so on, but also tools on the user side, like customizable widgets and bonus engines.
OddsMatrix is the leading sports betting data provider for bookmakers that create engaging betting products. If you’re looking for solutions meant to enhance the data side of your development efforts, look no further than our powerful odds and sports data solutions.
