Product
Virtual Sports
Last reviewed 24 September 2026
What is Virtual Sports?
Computer-generated sporting events (football matches, horse and greyhound races, motor racing) whose outcomes are decided by a certified random number generator, run on a fixed schedule around the clock and bet on with sportsbook-style markets.
Key takeaways
- Virtual sports look like sport but work like a casino game: an RNG decides the result and the margin is built into the odds.
- They run continuously, so there is no dead time and no liability to manage.
- Volume rises whenever real sport stops, and they are the nearest lawful product to a slot in sports-only markets.
- Jurisdictions differ on licensing and taxing virtuals as gaming or betting, with Britain treating them as betting, and fast-product player-protection rules apply.
Why it matters
Virtual sports fill the gaps in the real sporting calendar with a product that looks like sport but works like a casino game, its results drawn by a random number generator. A virtual horse race runs every few minutes, with a field, form, odds and a broadcast-quality animation; the result is drawn by an RNG weighted according to the published odds, and the operator's margin is built into those odds exactly as it would be for a slot's pay table. There is nothing to trade, no liability to manage and no result to wait for, which is why virtuals were among the first products to be certified for regulated online markets and why they sit inside retail betting shops alongside the gaming machines.
Commercially, virtuals are a retention and dead-time product. They keep sportsbook customers engaged between events, they convert casino players who like sport, and in markets where casino is prohibited but sports betting is not, they are the closest lawful thing to a slot. Their margin is higher and more predictable than real sports betting because there is no market to price, and their volume rises whenever real sport stops, as it did during the 2020 lockdowns.
The compliance point is classification. A virtual event's result is drawn by an RNG rather than decided by a contest, so jurisdictions differ on whether it is licensed and taxed as gaming or as betting: Great Britain, for example, licenses it as betting on virtual events under a dedicated operating licence. Either way it is subject to the responsible-gambling rules that apply to fast, repetitive products. Marketing that presents virtuals as sport rather than as chance has drawn regulatory attention.
Sources
- Remote general betting standard virtual events licence - Gambling Commission
Virtual Sports elsewhere on iGaming Times
In the news
Frequently asked questions
Are virtual sports rigged?
They are random. A certified random number generator draws each result with probabilities that match the displayed odds less the operator margin, and a testing laboratory verifies it, as with any RNG game.
How is a virtual sports bet different from a real sports bet?
A real bet is on an event with a genuine uncertain outcome that the operator prices with judgement and risk. A virtual bet is on a random draw dressed as an event; the price is a pay table.
Why do sportsbooks offer virtuals?
To keep customers engaged between real events, to earn a higher and more predictable margin than on real sport, and to offer a slot-like product where casino games are not permitted.