Innovative AI-powered approach to sports handicapping continues push to reshape betting

Artificial intelligence has opened the door for a whole new experience for fans and spectators who decide to partake in the fast-changing world of sports betting. 

Long gone are the days when someone interested in placing a wager is forced to travel to a Las Vegas casino or frantically search for a local bookmaker. As more and more states across the U.S. legalize sports gambling, the way sports are consumed is likely to drastically change.

Data from the American Gaming Association showed that Americans placed more than $23 billion in bets on Super Bowl LVIII, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. A considerable number of those bets even involved singer Taylor Swift. Other wagers focused on the coin toss or the length of the national anthem.

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People place bets at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, May 6, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Albert Cesare-USA Today Sports)

While prop bets for the Super Bowl are always popular, millions of sports fans handicap various sporting events throughout the year. Technology company Leans.AI operates a sports statistical analytics website and is at the forefront of leveraging AI in an effort to make something that is typically unpredictable into something more reliable.

Leans.AI created a "genius" platform called Remi to quickly and precisely analyze data from some of the most popular professional sports leagues in the nation, including the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. 

WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?

Remi can also crunch the numbers for college football and basketball contests. The computer picks generated with the assistance of AI use specific win probabilities "to find a few games each day that lean strongly to one side of a line or spread," according to the company's official website.

Remi then aggregates point spreads for a given sporting event.

"So what it does is it analyzes data on every single game and its thousands and thousands of data points… and it crunches all of those numbers into a single win probability for the game, and then we can convert that to a cover probability based on what betting lines are at the time. We generate an exact probability based on what the algorithm is telling us of exactly how likely it is for a team to cover a spread or not." Steve Westfeld of Leans.AI told Fox News Digital.

Leans.AI provides precise data to subscribers who can then use the information as they choose. The provided content is for entertainment purposes only.

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Fans can even take in a game when they are on the go. When that is coupled with the rising costs associated with supporting a team, people's desire to attend in-person games has been somewhat dampened. Now, more than ever, fans are looking for something that makes them feel as though they are participating in an event or situation that was tailored to them. Sports betting is no different, but AI-driven technology has started to bridge that gap by creating experiences that can feel highly personalized.

A more personalized experience also tends to create a more emotional connection to the game, which is something bettors often grapple with in their decision-making. Becoming overly emotional and being too attached to a particular team or game could impact someone's choice when they are making a sports wager. But, Remi is data-driven and unbiased, which creates a much more ideal environment for finding a precise probability.

"We are trying to predict true game analytics. So our algorithm is not looking at where the money is going or is not going on a game… it's not looking at what other emotional bettors are doing… it's not looking at what other emotional, biased handicappers are doing. It's looking strictly at data and the AI and algorithm has allowed us to take essentially human bias and emotion out of the equation entirely. When we do that, we can create a pretty precise probability on how the game is likely to trend."

A customer makes a sports bet at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Sept. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Access to television bundles, streaming, and 4k television technology has allowed the average fan to watch their favorite team or player from the comfort of their home, even if they do not live in a given team's home market. 

Machine learning algorithms can also be leveraged to allow various sportsbooks to analyze a given bettor's patterns and interests to show them personalized recommendations. As a result, users are given a variety of new tools that they otherwise would not have without the technology.

"AI will allow for increasingly personal experiences for sports bettors, and customize quests for users, building upon the type of quests they tend to accept and complete," Dan Taren, founder of sports betting platform Scrimmage, told Boardroom.

"This is powerful for operators we integrate with to help their users make their betting experience feel personalized to them."

So-called microbetting has experienced a rapid rise in recent years. It gives participants the ability to place wagers on outcomes as narrowly targeted as whether the next play will be a run or a pass, how many yards will it gain, or whether the drive results in a punt, a touchdown, a turnover or something else.

Microbetting "is a must-have to be a competitor in this space," Matt Prevost, chief revenue officer for BetMGM said. Between 40% to 65% of all bets his company takes on football come after the opening kickoff.

Artificial intelligence is being used to power the personalization of popular sports betting apps to tailor experiences to users' preferences. (iStock)

Johnny Avello, director of race and sports for DraftKings, said his company is concentrating more on microbetting offerings this fall.

"We're going to have more markets like betting on the next play, who's going to carry the ball, how many yards it will gain," he said. "We've found that those are equally as popular as who's going to win the game or the total amount scored."

When enjoyed in moderation and when spending limits are put in place, sports wagering gambling can be a fun and exciting way to enjoy a game. However, it is important that players are aware of the importance of responsible gambling.

Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, shared that a responsible gambler does not rely on gambling as a source of income.

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"As someone approaches the Super Bowl or March Madness or any other sporting event where they're thinking about making the game a little bit more fun or a little bit more interesting, one, it's supposed to be fun. No one should ever believe they are going to make a living or a second job placing wagers on sporting events," Miller told Fox News Digital last February.

Gamblers should also have a specific budget in mind.

"And number two, you set a budget, and you stick to that budget," he advised.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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