Sports betting and generally gambling in the Philippines has always been something of a great value for bookmakers and casino operators. That’s because betting is ingrained in the Philippine culture and history and it has manifested in the everyday lives of Filipinos since forever.
Whether it involves more traditional ways of betting, like for example wagering with a brick-and-mortar sportsbook or more modern, advanced and specialized ways like for example wagering in the best online casino in the Philippines with gcash, sports betting is always a hype in the country.
Filipinos like to wager. That’s a fact. Interestingly, they enjoy betting on a primary, a more deep-rooted in-the-cultural heritage and tradition sport, like cockfighting just as they enjoy betting on the more mainstream and contemporary sports like competitive video gaming.
No matter how contradictory this might sound, it is the mere truth in the sports betting industry in the Philippines. On the one hand we have millions and millions of people being loyal to the digital versions of the physical sports and on the other hand we have millions and millions being also loyal to a sport that goes back to the birth of the country and the origins of the population and their culture.
Tech-savvy sports bettors can wager on an eSport tournament with the same ease, convenience, interest and excitement that they can wager on sabong. This paradox occurs in the country which experiences a simultaneous surge in bets on cockfighting and on competitive video gaming. Sabong and games like DOTA2, League of Legends, CS:GO or Fortnite share a similar level of popularity when it comes to betting, especially among the youngest generations.
Betting on cockfights, or sabong betting as it is mostly known in the country, is a part of the cultural heritage and the history of the people in the Philippines. And while in the last years sabong betting was waning, recently with the development of online sabong betting and the transfer of the sport to the internet, people re-generated their interest in cockfights and returned to the oldest form of wagering that they know.
Conducive factors for the return of sabong betting in the mainstream sports wagers has been the advent of the internet and the outburst of the pandemic. These two factors have also been the growth drivers of eSports betting. The same factors that have promoted the digitally-advanced, modern betting on competitive video gaming, have also promoted the growth of an ancient, primary sport for which the newest and youngest generations did not really care for.
But now, sabong betting is gaining momentum as it has been parading on the sports betting sites and it has been made available online, something that was impossible in the past. And just like that, younger bettors become not only familiar with one of the oldest sports of their culture but they also develop strong interest for placing wagers on this sport. And despite the opposition by animal rights global movements and organizations, cockfighting continues to thrive in the Philippines. It represents the heritage and the history of the Filipinos and this can’t simply change.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the surge in sports betting we see eSports taking the lead. With digital literacy hitting unparalleled levels in the country and Gen Z bettors generally having a preference towards eSports wagering, the revenues from bets on these games are on a continuous rise.
Sports betting in the Philippines is a story of two tales. No matter how odd this might seem and no matter the paradoxical thing underpinning the two ‘opposite’ sports for betting, what is going on today is a blend of tradition and technology, history and the future.
