Over the course of 2020, Americans legally bet around $3 billion on sports each month. This naturally means that the market is a lucrative one.
If you’re considering making a living for yourself in the world of sports betting, you may be wondering: how do bookies make money? That’s what we’re going to look into here today. Read on to learn how much bookies can make and how they reel in the big bucks.
How Much Can a Bookie Make?
Bookies make money when their players lose bets. The amount that they make therefore depends on three major factors:
- How many players they have
- How often these players lose
- How large the bets that players place are
This means that the amount of money that bookies make varies greatly from person to person.
Small Bookie Businesses
If you have only a few bettors to work with, you’re not going to make the stack of hundos that you often think of when you hear the word ‘bookie.’ However, you still will likely make a decent amount of money off even a few players, especially if they place large bets.
If you have a single player who bets $100 weekly, for example, you’re going to make about $5000 per year from them. Multiply this by just 10 players and you’re making a $50,000 per year salary.
The best thing about being a small bookie is that you have the opportunity to grow your business.
Larger-Name Agent
If you sign on a lot of players, you can make a ton of cash. It’s not uncommon for a popular bookie with a large sportsbook to make between $50,000-$100,000 per week!
Of course, this takes time and effort. You need to invest energy in growing and maintaining your sportsbook and building a reputation in the sports betting world. This means effectively marketing your business, getting positive reviews, and expanding into the world of new sports and events.
However, if you’re passionate about sports and want to make bookmaking your full-time job, then this effort is completely worth it.
How Do Bookies Make Money?
As is expected, becoming a big-name bookie takes a lot of money as well as time. But what is the ROI for these expenditures? Do bookies always make money?
The answer to this question lies in the way that they access bookie resources.
If a bookie invests in a platform where they’re forced to pay for more services than they use, it’s unlikely that they’ll be profitable in the long term. They’ll be funneling out more money than they have coming in, which can drive any business- no matter the industry- into the ground.
However, if you use pay per head (PPH) sports betting software, you will always run a lucrative business. This is because you only pay your management agency around $10 for the specific number of players that you have. This lets you grow and scale your business without putting too much money out and losing more than you make.
PPH platforms are also awesome because they’re fully managed. When you invest, you get:
- Automated updates
- Automatic score reporting for games, sports, and events
- Web design and development for your website (from a template or in a custom format)
- 24/7 customer support for both you and your players
- Full control over your lines, bets, limits, and players
- State of the art security features
How Can You Make Dough as a Bookie?
In addition to making money with PPH platforms, there are a few ways that you can ensure that your bookie business is profitable.
First, you need to take care of the problems that professional gamblers present. Keep an eye out for signs that you might be dealing with those who gamble for a living and shut down their accounts. This is completely valid and won’t harm your reputation as long as you make your policy clear on your website.
Like with any other business, you also make money by setting realistic goals and objectives. Make sure that these goals are quantifiable so you can actually measure your success later. You’ll need to assess and reassess both short-term and long-term goals as time moves forward.
Make sure that you also prepare for ups and downs within the gambling industry. You’ll naturally make more money around major sporting events like the Super Bowl, World Cup, and World Series. Save money from these occasions so that you can get through lulls while still maintaining your business.
Finally, to make money as a bookie, you’ll need an awesome marketing plan in place. Use Google Ads and platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get the word out about your business. You can target demographics such as those in a certain income bracket or occupation.
You can also target those who search for specific keywords or like competitor pages. This is awesome when working with pay-per-click services, but you can also use an SEO campaign to get the word out to these search engine users.
Bet on Your Business Today
So, how do bookies make money?
The answer to that question is a loaded one, but it’s actually fairly simple for agents to make big bucks when they set up awesome PPH sites.
Now that you know what bookies do to reel in the cash, it’s time to begin looking into starting your own sports betting business. Check out the ‘finance’ tab on our website for some tips on how to scrape together the necessary funds for setting up your new business. Start browsing ASAP to read awesome articles about saving money, setting goals, and more.
