Online sports betting has been unleashed. Since U.S. deregulation began in 2018, legal sports betting has expanded to more than 30 states, with well over $100 billion wagered annually.
But the most important detail isn’t where it’s legal — it’s who these products are built for.
The core sports betting user is overwhelmingly male, under 45, mobile-first, and highly engaged. That is not an abstract demographic. That is the same demographic that makes up a large share of field technicians, installers, drivers, and skilled trades workers.
What Does Sports Betting Have to Do With Your Company Incentives?
Your team’s phones (and let’s be honest, ours as well) are always in their pockets — buzzing, lighting up, competing for attention.
Everyone makes choices with their time, energy, and risk. As a manager, whether you like it or not, you’re competing with everything that promises excitement, a sense of winning, and — most importantly — immediate payoff.
Online sports books have even managed to de-risk that first user experience to make sure everybody has a good time, no matter what - risk-free first bets were carved out as non-taxable marketing dollars in many statets, giving betting apps a powerful way to reduce friction and bring in new users.
And critically, this culture of speculation exists even in states where sports betting isn’t fully legal. Offshore sportsbooks, tribal platforms, and federally regulated prediction markets "bet on anything" already offer betting-like experiences nationwide — including in places like California and Texas.
From a behavioral standpoint, the distinction barely matters. The competition for attention and dollars is already here.
Today’s betting lives online — in your pocket — and that changes everything.
You Are Competing — Whether You Admit It or Not
When it comes to the labor market — and particularly the younger, male labor market — your competition isn’t just other employers.
It’s side work. It’s the gig economy. And yes — it’s sports betting and betting-like platforms engineered for constant engagement and fast payoff.
If your incentives are slow, uncertain, or delayed until payroll, they don’t just lose to “doing nothing.” They lose to something far more optimized.
Competing the Right Way
You don’t need to become a betting app. But you do need to understand what you’re up against.
We’re building the modern instant performance pay system for teams in the field — one that sends clear signals, rewards initiative, and delivers payout when the work actually happens. Let's show people that doing real work and making money feels good.
Your competition — side work (Why Do Techs Take on Side Work?), betting platforms — is stiff.
But we’re on your team. We believe managers can drive results by meeting people where they are and rewarding the behaviors that grow the business — immediately.
The business grows. The team gets instant performance pay. That’s not a gimmick. That’s good incentive design.