Baseball: A national institution in almost every true sense of the word. Indeed, when it comes to sports, they don’t come more genuinely American than Major League Baseball.
From the first pitch to the final home run, from the on-field action taking place between the sport’s biggest teams to the roar of the crowd and the air of electricity permeating the air at stadiums across the United States, everything about baseball is just so US-centric.
Yet for the longest time, that was also one of the sport’s major flaws when it came to expanding its reach into international markets. As a sport so typically anonymous with the red, white, and blue of the USA, it was hard for fans in other countries — especially across Europe — to really get the appeal of the game.
Changing reputations
That was, however, only until recently, when the Los Angeles Dodgers, in unison with several other top-flight MLB teams, began subtly influencing the way international audiences viewed our America’s pastime.
There are several ways that this has happened in recent years, though we’d be remiss if we didn’t first give credit where it’s due to the huge influence that international sports betting has had on expanding MLB’s popularity overseas.
Thanks to a relaxation of gambling laws in countries like the United Kingdom, ardent sports fans are frequently on the lookout for new markets which offer a regular chance to land some big money payouts by betting on the outcome of games.
Plenty of Opportunities for Live Sports Betting
With 162 top fixtures taking place each and every season, Major League Baseball more than fits the bill as a sport which offers regular betting opportunities, whilst the nature of the game and the odds of teams winning means impressive payouts are always a possibility.
The internet too, has been largely responsible for promoting not only the sport itself, but its potential as a betting market, to international audiences.
The ability to check upcoming baseball fixtures, study form, and get odds for both teams to score now is easier than it ever has been at just about any other time in history.
This has given scores of new fans in the UK, Europe and Australia hitherto unprecedented access to information, statistics, and live, in-game odds for the Dodgers and contemporaries such as the Chicago Cubs, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Of course, that’s not to say that overseas sports fans are left to experience America’s favorite sport merely as a series of stats and team names on a sports betting website.
Live Games Broadcast Internationally
In today’s digitally-driven age, the rise of streaming media, 24/7 access to content and on-demand sports has done much to improve baseball’s reputation among international audiences.
Both live and recorded games are broadcast on UK networks such as BT Sport and ESPN UK. As such, for the first time ever British fans now able to see recent clashes like the Dodgers against the Texas Rangers at the Surprise Stadium as they happen, with other games like the spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays also screening just a few hours earlier.
Naturally, this means that fans get to experience the thrills of a big game, prompting them to add to the excitement by placing a live sports bet on the next one, meaning they then tune in live, and thus the cycle continues, ever increasing international success of this most American of institutions.
