The sports betting sector is growing at a steady clip across the United States and beyond. Across 2023, for instance, we say just under $120 billion legally wagered on sports events, representing a 27.5% rise from 2022. We can point to tangible reasons for this, of course, not least the growing number of states legalizing sports betting (offline and online) since the Supreme Court’s historic decision to strike down the sports betting ban in 2018.

However, there are other reasons for the growth in sports betting, and we might point to the growing sense of gamification of the process, raising the level of engagement between the bettor and the game. And there is no better example of that than same game parlays (SGPs), sometimes to referred to as a bet builder.

SGPs Have Become Central to Sportsbooks

For those not aware, an SGP is a multi-leg bet on events contained within the same game. For example, you might build an SGP on a football game, covering the following events: The Chiefs to win; over 55.5 points overall in the game; Patrick Mahomes to achieve over 330 passing yards; Travis Kelce to score the first touchdown. The SGP is a bet on all of these events to occur. If one or more does not, you’ll lose the bet.

The above example looks fairly simple, but the odds calculation for combining those legs is complex. It is known as a “correlated parlay”. In our example, the fact that Kelce scores first and Mahomes reaches that passing yard threshold would influence the outcome of the game (making a Chiefs victory much more likely). It’s for that reason that SGPs/bet builders are a relatively modern phenomenon, as sportsbooks only recently had the technology to offer that on demand for numerous different bet types.

Today, that popularity should not be underestimated. Some sportsbooks will have dedicated SGP platforms; we can point to the Bet Builder William Hill hub, for instance. During the NBA, NFL, and Premier League seasons, a huge number of fans will create SGPs for regular season games. In the UK, it is almost a weekly ritual for the weekend Premier League games.

Social Media Plays a Key Role in Bet Builder Popularity

Yet, can we parse out the reason for the explosion in popularity? We mentioned the terms “gamification” and “ritual” earlier, and that’s arguably key. SGPs/bet builders allow bettors to engage with a big game; the gamification element comes with feeling more involved in aspects of the event rather than simply the final outcome. As for the ritual, we have evidence of that because it plays out on social media.

On any given game day, you’ll find tipsters on social media discussing SGPs with their followers. There is a community aspect to it, with social media users debating the merits of statistics and other strategies. This also adds to the gamification, as strategies and results get compared. Sure, sports generally get discussed to death on social media, as do sports betting strategies, but the detail that you will find on SGPs is on another level. Arguably, SGPs have matured in a similar way to fantasy sports in terms of community-driven discussion on social media platforms.

SGPs do have some drawbacks, and it’s clear that not every bettor is a fan. Some argue that there is too much luck involved and that bettors are unnecessarily overcomplicating the process. But that’s also part of the allure. The growth of SGPs has been linked to the broadening of sports engagement generally, particularly on social media. The rise of same game parlays reflects a broader trend of increased interaction and community within sports betting. It looks like they are here to stay.