With insights from SCCG Management Founder & CEO Stephen Crystal and Betsson Group Sportsbook Product Manager (Growth) Emmanouil Mountalas, Gambling Insider’s Beth Turner looks into social media’s impact on sportsbooks and what it means for today’s players.
Social media has redefined how we engage with our relationships over the past 20 years. It has redefined how we engage with the world, even. As such, it is no surprise that it has come to change how we place bets, too.
Depending on location, the development of online sportsbooks and social media will look vastly different. In the UK, for example, specific regulations for online gambling have existed since 2005. Back then, Facebook was only a year old and Twitter (now X) was yet to launch, with MSN and Myspace leading the way in terms of what would become the modern social media landscape.
Consider that, by 2005, William Hill had already been online for seven years. Even then, it had time to adapt its site to follow online trends, from the early days of Web 1.0 hyperlinks to the Web 2.0 era of video sharing and social interaction we know today.
Meanwhile, in the US, PASPA was only overturned in 2018. By then, social media had become an integrated part of society – Facebook had 2.23 billion average monthly users and TikTok was already two years old. When sports betting went live in the US, it was to a market that already understood the workings of social media with a landscape that had codified what a social media platform should look like: a smartphone app with bottom-screen widgets to search, upload and get back to your home feed, with a downwards-scrolling display of posts prioritised by following and back-end algorithms.
Again consider that, by 2014, four years before PASPA went live, the William Hill Sportsbook app already had two million downloads. The European sports betting market in the social media era was a mature one – and one operators in the US needed to understand quickly to appeal to the market.
Yet, in spite of this, no matter where you are in the world, sportsbooks have come to display many of the same features as social media. Whether they were developed alongside the explosion of social media in the 2000s or following their establishment in the 2010s, the impact social media has had on the features and UI of sportsbooks is undeniable.
“Sportsbooks have increasingly adopted social media’s clean, intuitive layouts, prioritising scrollable feeds, swipe gestures and real-time updates,” Betsson Group Sportsbook Product Manager (Growth) Emmanouil Mountalas tells Gambling Insider. “Mobile interfaces now mimic platforms like Instagram or Twitter, featuring infinite scrolls for live betting, notifications for trending events and personalised content curation. Visual storytelling, such as highlight reels or stat overlays, mirrors social media’s emphasis on immediacy and engagement. This has gained further traction in the post-Covid era, with the rise of platforms like TikTok. By integrating these familiar elements, sportsbooks reduce friction for users who are already accustomed to social apps, making the betting experience feel familiar and seamless rather than intimidating.”
Indeed, features such as chatrooms, post feeds, commenting and interactive profiles are the bread and butter of user retention on social media, and it seems brands have noticed. Stephen Crystal, Founder & CEO of SCCG Management, tells Gambling Insider: “Integrating social media elements into sportsbooks has become an increasingly popular strategy to enhance user engagement and foster a sense of community among bettors. Features such as interactive content, live chats, leaderboards and social sharing options are designed to replicate the communal aspects of traditional social media platforms within the betting environment. These integrated social features can effectively build communities by bringing sports fans together under one umbrella, allowing them to share experiences, discuss betting strategies and celebrate wins collectively. This communal approach not only enhances user engagement but also promotes brand loyalty, as bettors feel part of a larger community within the sportsbook.”
This sense of community was also something highlighted by Mountalas when breaking down the primary benefits of this emerging trend. He says: “Adding social features fosters a sense of community, increasing user engagement and retention. By enabling interactions, likes and sharing bets or discussing strategies, sportsbooks create a sense of belonging, which keeps users on the platform longer. Social feeds and leaderboards also tap into users’ competitive instincts, encouraging increased betting activity.”
Creating community – or cutting community off?
Indeed, creating community – and thus creating more reasons for players to come back outside of placing bets – is a key motivation behind integrating social media elements into sportsbooks.
Sports betting is an inherently social activity. Fan communities surrounding teams and players, and their interactions with other fan communities, is what builds hype around upcoming games both on and offline. “Sportsbooks offer context-specific interactions that general social platforms lack,” explains Mountalas. “Users engage with peers who share their niche interests, leading to more relevant discussions about odds, strategies or live events. Integrated features, like sharing bets directly from a bet slip or tracking friends’ picks in real-time, add utility and speed. Trust is also a key factor, as interactions take place within a regulated environment, reducing exposure to scams or misinformation. Some sportsbooks even incentivise social activity, such as offering rewards for referrals, providing tangible benefits beyond those found on traditional social media platforms.”
However, it must also be noted just how much smaller the communities on sportsbooks are compared to traditional social media. According to the latest figures at the time of writing, DraftKings had an average of 2.7 million unique monthly users in 2023, while as of January 2025, X (formerly Twitter) had an estimated 368.4 million monthly users. This means that, when it comes to the number of players that sportsbook users can interact with, there may be limitations – something that may hinder the community experience and potentially lead to stagnation.
As Crystal puts it: “While these features enhance the betting experience, they may not fully replace the broad reach and diverse interactions offered by conventional social media platforms. Traditional social media channels provide access to a wider audience, encompassing both bettors and non-bettors, and facilitate a broader range of discussions beyond betting-specific topics.”
For sports communities, these social elements provide a quality-over-quantity approach. But, in a social media age when quantity has become key for engagement (one recent statistic suggested that 95 million pictures and videos are posted to Instagram alone every day), the effectiveness of this approach comes into question.
Gen Z: Keeping up with trend-setters
Of course, the conversation of young people, the digital native Gen Z and Millennials, and their ability to dictate trends, is unavoidable. For this generation, social media is innate, being the primary way social relationships are developed and maintained. This generation is not making friends in the sports betting world by striking up conversations in retail betting shops – people are meeting fellow fans online.
Moreover, as Mountalas explains, “Gen Z expects seamless social integration far more than other previous generations. Features like group betting, shared wallets or TikTok-style short-form video analyses align with their preference for communal, interactive experiences. Social elements also cater to their comfort with public validation (e.g. receiving likes on winning bets) and FOMO-driven behaviours (e.g. live polls on upcoming games). Without these features, sportsbooks risk appearing outdated or overly transactional to a generation that values collaboration and entertainment as much as functionality.”
Indeed, keeping up with the times and tastes of young players is critical for success. In a past edition of Trafficology, we spoke with Rebet CEO Carson Hubbard and CMO Bella di Giovanni. The two previewed the then-upcoming-and-coming ‘free to play social sportsbook,’ which the two unabashedly explained as an idea formed from their interests in both sports betting and social media. The two were also, notably, from the digital native generation.
“We drew inspiration from different social media sites we love,” explained Hubbard. “We tried to merge the best of social sportsbooks with the best social media so that you can do everything in one application… By using similarities within the app, we’re creating a user experience that people are already used to. They don’t need to learn an entirely new user interface. They are familiar with this type of layout already.”
As apps like Rebet show, its not only the younger users of sportsbooks that call for this technology: so too do the young people making the sportsbooks themselves.Keeping things in one place
Finally, it is worth noting that, by integrating social elements into a sportsbook, users are no longer required to use multiple platforms to communicate their sports betting activity. Showing off a particularly successful betbuilder, for example, would no longer require taking screenshots and resharing them on alternative sites. Instead, sharing and social feeds would keep things all in one place – a convenience for players and tool for retention for operators. “There is no more disconnect in the environment. Everything can be done on one platform. There’s no more screenshotting your bets and sending it to your friends via iMessage. Everything can be done on one platform,” said Hubbard.
Crystal elaborates on this idea, stating: “Integrating social elements directly into sportsbooks is highly effective in keeping users within the app, reducing the need to jump between platforms to socially engage or find content tied to their betting actions and behaviours. By centralising these features, sportsbooks can create a seamless and immersive experience that aligns with user preferences and habits.”
However, with great retention comes great responsibility. Sportsbooks must continuously walk a tightrope of keeping users coming back while keeping them safe from problem gambling – something that may be exacerbated by community settings, social peer pressures and the need for validation online. As such, having the two directly interconnected is one way to tackle the problem.
“Sportsbooks embed responsible gaming tools directly within social features,” explains Mountalas. “For instance, deposit limits or cooling-off periods can be activated mid-conversation in chatrooms, while pop-up reminders about spending habits may appear alongside celebratory social notifications. Moderators monitor communities for harmful behaviour and AI flags risky patterns, such as excessive tip-sharing. By framing responsible gaming as part of the communal experience, such as ‘buddy systems’ for setting limits, sportsbooks promote safer engagement without compromising interactivity.”
Stay true, or follow trends?
To innovate, experimentation is key. Social media, at one point, was in and of itself an experiment; websites made for small communities to connect via a new technology that grew to redefine how people and communities interact entirely. Non-social media platforms integrating social media elements is nothing new. Consider just how many platforms there are for communities to gather, talk, share ideas and form their own social norms. It is, after all, a tried-and-true way to get users coming back.
For sportsbooks specifically, these features, Mountanas notes, “help sportsbooks differentiate themselves in a crowded market, appealing to younger, socially driven demographics like Gen Z, who expect interactive experiences. Crucially, they blend entertainment with betting, turning solitary actions into shared experiences, which can drive customer acquisition through peer referrals and viral content.”
However, it is also worth noting that, when multiple sportsbooks integrate the same features, they are no longer unique. After a point, they become an expectation. As such, finding a balance between accessibility, of making a sportsbook that conforms enough to standards that it does not require instructions to navigate, and retaining the identity of the sportsbook itself, is key.
Mountalas provides some suggestions for tackling this. “Sportsbooks can balance simplicity with uniqueness by emphasising core functionalities through innovative design. For example, a minimalist interface might highlight live odds with dynamic animations or use colour-coding to intuitively convey risk levels. Unique branding elements, such as mascots or themed events, add personality without clutter. Personalisation, like tailored bet recommendations or customisable dashboards, also help differentiate platforms while maintaining accessibility and reinforce a sense of exclusivity for each user. The key is to layer distinctive features atop a UX foundation that aligns with users’ existing digital habits.
The future of sports betting
In Mountalas’ opinion, the social media-ification of sportsbooks will not be stopping anytime soon. Where evolutions in social media go, sportsbooks will follow – they have to, simply to remain relevant to consumer preferences and the wider online landscape. “The convergence of entertainment and betting will push sportsbooks to integrate features like live-streamed watch parties, user-generated content hubs or influencer-led betting pools,” he suggests. “Augmented reality (AR) integrations, such as virtual stadiums where users interact, could further blur lines.”
While he admits that sportsbooks will never be able to exist 1:1 with social media – regulation “may limit certain elements, such as viral challenges tied to betting,” he says – the need to “replicate social media’s ‘stickiness’ while maintaining compliance” is not going anywhere.
“Ultimately, sportsbooks must prioritise purpose over novelty – social features should enhance, not overshadow, the betting experience,” he concludes. “Operators need to start by understanding user behaviour and integrating tools that align with how bettors naturally interact, such as live chat during games rather than forced forums. Data should be leveraged to refine features, ensuring they provide real value, such as social tipping for more accurate predictions. Compliance is also critical, with safeguards designed to prevent peer pressure and irresponsible sharing. Most importantly, every sportsbook must maintain a clear brand identity. Social elements should feel native to the platform rather than a bolted-on gimmick. The goal is to create a cohesive ecosystem where community and betting coexist symbiotically, driving both enjoyment and sustainable growth.”
https://www.gamblinginsider.com/magazine/1138/analysing-social-medias-impact-on-sportsbooks
