Prediction markets scale fast as DATA.BET details sportsbook-style model
H2 Gambling Capital data shows March Madness prediction market handle surging, as DATA.BET's Yurii Berest explains how the sector is being built into existing sportsbook platforms.
Prediction markets have moved from a niche curiosity to one of the most closely watched developments in betting over a remarkably short period, according to iGaming Business.
The outlet points to the US presidential election of late 2024 as a key turning point, after which the format gained traction across a far wider betting audience.
Figures from H2 Gambling Capital cited by iGaming Business show prediction market handle on the March Madness college basketball tournament reached $16m in 2025. A year later, that figure was projected to climb to roughly $530m.
Yurii Berest, chief executive of sportsbook technology supplier DATA.BET, told iGaming Business the growth stems from prediction markets pulling betting behaviour into subjects people already follow in daily life, such as politics, technology, economics and entertainment, rather than confining it to sport.
Berest said those topics are often as familiar to users as conventional sports markets, which widens the pool of potential customers considerably.
He also argued that presentation has played a central role. Users do not simply back an outcome, he said, but watch a market's implied probability shift in real time as new information lands, turning the product itself into a form of ongoing content.
That combination, he told the outlet, of more relevant subject matter and a more engaging way of tracking it, is what pushed prediction markets out of a specialist corner and into mainstream betting conversation.
DATA.BET built its own prediction markets product on that thinking when it launched the offering in April. The supplier said it set out to strip away the structural complexity typically associated with exchange-style platforms, using straightforward pricing, standard fiat transactions and a more conventional user experience.
The company treats prediction markets as a distinct vertical sitting inside its sportsbook product, covering areas from politics and finance to culture and weather, without requiring players to grasp exchange mechanics or use cryptocurrency.
Berest said users interact with the format through the same interface they already know, while operators can integrate it via API without needing a separate build. Behind that familiar front end, he said, DATA.BET had to construct a new pricing and risk framework, with odds calculated dynamically as stakes and data flow in.
The product is delivered through iFrame and API integration and has been designed for sportsbook bettors rather than professional traders, letting customers use familiar decimal odds and their existing account balance, in fiat or crypto, rather than adopting new tools.
DATA.BET has since added further market types along with expanded live and historical data since the vertical's launch.
Berest linked that trajectory to the broader rise of platforms such as Polymarket, telling iGaming Business it shows the core betting product still has substantial room to develop, and that users are drawn to following shifts in probability, volume and sentiment even before placing a wager.
Rather than copying the exchange model outright, he said the industry's task is to identify new formats and categories that suit users, while keeping the experience simple and recognisable.
Berest noted that prediction market products diverge mainly in how their pricing models are built. Peer-to-peer exchange structures, where prices move with participant activity and available liquidity, offer strong price discovery and can make bettors feel they are trading in a live market rather than facing a bookmaker directly, he said, though that comes at the cost of added complexity for the user.