But, betting is just one side of the coin; and on the other is gambling. One of the oldest human pastimes, gambling on games of chance dates back to the prehistoric era. In 2024, most people have largely moved towards online casinos, as they are accessible, simple to use, and incredibly newbie friendly. 

But, often one might find that online casinos and online sportsbooks share a website. Certainly, plenty of people have wondered why that is. Well, the truth of the matter is that sports betting and online gambling have a lot in common. In this article, we’d like to explore what that is. 

Both Fall Under Gambling

Both online sports betting and online casinos fall under the same umbrella of iGaming. The iGaming industry encompasses any and all games that you play at online casinos. Whether it be slots, poker, blackjack, or ruleta online, it all falls under iGaming. However, the term means so much more than that. It also often refers to any form of gambling done online, including wagering on sports and other events.

However, it goes further than that. iGaming is now its own industry, producing billions of dollars annually. However, the market began as a subsidiary to the greater gambling industry. Which means that we could fairly say that online casinos and online sportsbooks all fall under the even bigger umbrella of gambling. 

And this isn’t just a terminology issue either. Studies have shown that playing roulette and betting on soccer stimulate the same parts of the brain. The same is true when we compare any gambling game to any sport popular to wager on. In other words, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that both sports betting and casino gaming falls under gambling. 

Both are Ancient

The history of football is a hotly-debated topic among historians and fans. Some believe that the game is uniquely English, with the official rules having been codified in the Victorian era in Cambridge. Others claim that it is an ancient sport, dating back to China. Indeed, the Ancient Chinese played an incredibly popular kickball game called Cuju, which involved 12 players trying to kick a ball into the opposing goal.

Whether you believe that cuju is the original football or not, there is no denying one thing; it certainly served as inspiration for the game. What else is certain is that a lot of the fans of cuju in Ancient China enjoyed wagering on the sport. Indeed, sports betting as a hobby may just date even further back than China, as some historians believe that people have been betting on racing and combat since the Paleolithic. 

Speaking of which, archeologists discovered a Paleolithic set of dice made from animal bones, that could have only been used for one thing; gambling. The dice proved that humans have had a thing for games of luck since they first began to walk upright. In other words, both sports betting and gambling have been a part of human culture, since humans first began having cultures and societies. 

The Outcome of Both

For this section, we would like to focus on the similarities in outcome for both. What we mean is that gambling and football betting both require the participants to rely on something outside of their control. In roulette, for example, it is luck that the player has to rely on. There isn’t really any way to change the outcome of the game, which is why there are no “winning” strategies surrounding roulette.

In football betting, luck of course plays a role, but not to a great extent. Regardless, the outcome is still outside the punter’s control, as the game’s victor depends on how well both of the teams playing perform. Both hobbies rely on the participants understanding that they have no power over the outcome, even if it is for different reasons. 

That being said, the outcome for both hobbies does rely on different things, as we said. Roulette, slots, even blackjack, are all luck-based games. That means that the outcome is a matter of pure chance. For football betting, the outcome depends on the odds, and how well one team performs in general. Luck still plays a role, but it is a lot simpler to predict the outcome of a game between Arsenal and Wolverhampton than a round of roulette.  

Football-Themed Slots

Slot games are the biggest draw at online casinos. And why not? They are fun, simple, and incredibly diverse. With the introduction of themed slots, online casinos have ensured that all of their games are, in some way, unique. Usually, the themes that online slot developers go for are some that are already popular. Of course, football, as the most popular sport in the world, is a perfect choice.

Football-themed slots are not rare. In fact, of the sports-themed slots, soccer-based ones are the most popular. Not only are there general football slots, with symbols representing notable iconography associated with football (the ball, jerseys, a goal, etc.), but there are also slots specifically themed to notable competitions in football, such as the World Cup, the English Premier League, UEFA EURO championship, etc. 

The appeal of football-themed slots is self-evident. Fans want to see something they can relate to, and something they are familiar with. As soccer is the biggest sport in the world, followed by 3 billion people, and more, most are familiar with the game, and could easily relate to a soccer-themed slot. For that reason, online slots go out of their way to create football-themed slots and attract customers interested in spinning the reel.