iGaming Bookie Software: Core Features, Licensing, and Integration for Sports Betting Operators

Online betting is the largest segment of the global iGaming, with over 40% of the total online gambling market. In 2024, sports betting took nearly 60% of the total industry revenue, and this share is expected to grow even further. The segment is projected to reach over $256 billion by 2030. 

The numbers sound promising. However, like many other businesses, running your own online sportsbook is challenging. First, you need solid bookie software. 

In this article, we break down the sports software phenomenon, essential features, licensing needs – all you need to know before choosing between a white label solution or hiring an in-house team of developers for your future online betting platform. 

What Is iGaming Bookie Software?

iGaming bookie software is the engine that handles everything from the moment the customers visit the site to when they place a bet and get paid. So it’s a digital ecosystem that online sportsbooks use to offer their services. 

A bookie software is built on two pillars: a highly complex backend and a user interface. The best way to understand its role is to picture it as a central nervous system. It’s the core that rapidly integrates all real-time sports data, handles the challenging math of setting odds, secures every player account, and guarantees instant transaction speeds.

Bookie software is made of a few special parts: 

Odds Engine: This part is the math brain of the system. The Odds Engine uses algorithms to figure out and quickly change the betting odds across every market, constantly evaluating the probability of outcomes using live data, all while incorporating the bookmaker’s profit margin. 

Bet Management System: This is the most important part for handling money and bets. This system must accept, check, and pay out every single bet, keeping a record of every bet made. That’s why it has to be very fast and very strong so it can handle a lot of bets at the same time, especially when people are betting on a game Live.

Live Feed Integrations: This is like a fast connection cable that sends live information (like the score, time left, who has the ball, fouls, etc.) right from the match to the Odds Engine. Since it’s essential for live bets, the delivery must be near-instant. 

Admin Dashboards: The Admin Dashboard is the control panel used by workers to manage player accounts, change odds manually, set limits on how much people can bet, and find possible fraud. It is the central place for creating financial reviews, reports on profits and loss, and checking all the rules are being followed. 

Like online casinos, there are three main types of “sportsbook solutions”:

White Label bookie software is a fully ready-made system that an operator rents from a provider. It’s already built, licensed and managed by the supplier. This is the fastest and cheapest way to test the market and see “where it goes”. 

A Turnkey sportsbook is a software with all necessary integrations, but without a license. Using a turnkey sportsbook platform, operators have to obtain a gambling license on their own, manage marketing, and handle all customer data. This is more suitable for mid-size companies that seek for more control. But it’s also more expensive than a White Label solution. 

Custom-Built software is a sportsbook created from scratch by the operator using in-house or outsourced developers. This is the right way for big companies that can afford this expensive development and wait for several months before launching. 

Essential Features of a Competitive Sports Betting Platform

A modern sportsbook can’t exist without some core features just because it’s what customers expect. Here are several functionalities without which bookie software can’t be imagined:

Pre-match and Live Betting

This is the bare minimum of any betting software, allowing players to bet before the match starts and during the event. Because the system reaction is required to be almost instant, this feature must utilize low-latency data and high speed coefficient updates to get the most of player engagement.

Multi-Sport and Multi-Market Support 

Customers are willing to bet if you offer them not only popular sports like football, basketball, and tennis, but also niche sports like Esports, badminton, and cricket. However, that still isn’t enough. 

To make betting on any sports event exciting, you have to give customers plenty of choices. That means offering to pick the match winner, predict the total score, or use handicaps along with bets focused on individual players. And to allow customers to get creative and fully customize their wagers, you need a Bet Builder tool.

Risk Management Tools

Making your customers happy is a priority but it can’t be the only objective. Risk management is one of the most crucial functions for an operator. These tools help automatically track potential risk across all the bets made on the platform. Therefore, the system must automatically update the odds and limit bets whenever the risk for a specific outcome gets too high. It is a smart way to ensure you don't end up taking huge financial hits.

Bet Slip Customization

The Bet Slip is the interface where players confirm their bets. Therefore, it must be as user friendly and fast as possible. To achieve this, the tool needs to include a quick display of potential winnings, offer the Cash Out feature (allowing players to withdraw funds before the event is over), and give them the ability to combine wagers into Accumulators and Systems, which are usually just called Multi or Parlay bets.

Real-Time Odds Updates

This tool is closely correlated with live betting and risk management. The betting odds must be updated instantly any time a significant event happens during the match, such as a goal, a red card, or an injury. They also need to update immediately when manual adjustments are made. 

Licensing and Regulatory Considerations

Whether you plan to run your own sportsbook or create software for B2C operators, you have to obtain a gambling license. This is non-negotiable because the credibility and trustworthiness of your business is determined by it. 

The license – whether offshore, or onshore ones – confirm that the operator meets strict standards, works honestly, reports its financials and protects players as the regulators all over the world require. Furthermore, obtaining a gambling license is mandatory if you plan to partner with sports teams and clubs in the future.

Many jurisdictions offer licenses that cover B2B and B2C services under a single license, while others require operators to obtain different licenses for their B2B and B2C services. 

Some licenses can be good options for online casinos, but not for betting. For example, Malta B2C licenses include Class 1 licenses for online casinos and Class 2 licenses for online betting. But in most cases, a single license can cover both types of gambling activities. 

In general when applying for an online gambling license, most regulators will require you to:

• Establish a legal entity in the jurisdiction or meet local presence requirements.
• Undergo a comprehensive due diligence process for all key people in the company.
• Implement anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), and Responsible Gaming policies and systems suited for B2B operations.
• Meet IT security standards and data protection obligations (such as GDPR compliance in the EU).
• Maintain transparent business records and submit to regulatory reporting procedures.

In addition to this list, as an online sports betting operator, you must gather and submit your personal and corporate documents along with a comprehensive detailed business plan, organisational charts, and more. 

MGL experts can assist you with the entire process from establishing a company to ongoing compliance after you obtain the license. 

Live Odds, Feeds, and Risk Management

A sportsbook works a lot like a trading market, but instead of stocks, it sells and trades wagers on event outcomes. For this exchange to operate effectively, it needs instant and completely accurate information about everything happening in the sports world in real-time. 

That’s why it’s better to rely on real-time data feeds providers like BetRadar and Sportradar, which relay every game event in an extremely fast, low-latency format. 

Can you operate without these providers? Hardly, especially if your online betting platform offers live bets, which players can make while the game is in progress.

Think about what happens when a goal is scored in a football match, for instance.

If you choose to operate without these real-time data feeds providers, you, as a bookmaker, must rely on TV broadcasts, which always have a delay of a few seconds, or on your own resources. 

But if you partner with a provider, you effectively outsource this crucial dependency to them. These companies use automated systems placed right in the stadiums that instantly detect a goal or any other key event during the match. This information then reaches the betting platform in a fraction of a second.

The raw event data immediately feeds into a complex algorithm. It instantly crunches the numbers to figure out how the new event changes the chance of every outcome. The algorithm then converts that new chance into a corrected betting odd. Once the calculation is complete, the updated odds are ready for output. 

As soon as a goal is scored, the odds on that team winning immediately plunge, and the odds on the opponent instantly skyrocket. This allows the bookmaker to adjust the betting lines as soon as possible and avoid large financial losses. 

So real-time feeds help you not only change the odds, but also serve as a base for bet settlement. This means the system can figure out the winnings and pay customers immediately—literally in the same second.

As a result, your customers are satisfied. They receive fast service and see that your odds are comparable to those offered by your competitors. 

Furthermore, you risk big financial exposure. If the odds are mistakenly set too high, a lot of people will jump at a chance to place a bet. In this case, the bookmaker would be forced to pay out massive winnings and could potentially lose at the point from that match. Accuracy helps you control and avoid that exact risk. 

Payment, KYC, and Third-Party Integrations

The success of a sportsbook depends not only on updated odds, but also on other integrated systems like payment systems, KYC/AML services, anti-fraud modules, as well as CRM tools. 

Payment systems are essential for managing financial interactions with customers; they allow users to deposit funds and withdraw their winnings. This requires integration with bank cards, e-wallets, and even cryptocurrencies. 

Behind these payment systems, there are always Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-money Laundering (AML) services, which automatically or semi-automatically verify the customer’s identity upon registration or before their first major withdrawal, and also track unusual activity.

Anti-fraud modules analyze behavioral patterns, such as the use of stolen cards or multiple accounts, and automatically block suspicious activity. 

Finally, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and marketing tools help manage customer data, launch targeted promotions and mailings, and track their effectiveness.

All these tools represent the technical foundation that allows the entire ecosystem to function as a single unit. The main thing is to quickly integrate them into the sportsbook, which is typically done using an API.

All of the services mentioned above must have open and flexible APIs so that the bookmaker’s software can easily connect to them.

Customization and Mobile Optimization

A sportsbook can be fulfilled with cutting-edge features, but it still needs to be customized and have a unique, user-friendly interface. User experience is a very important thing in such a highly competitive industry as iGaming. If there is anything that bothers the user, they won’t think twice to switch to a competitor’s website. 

So when customizing your platform, pay attention to: strong branding (corporate colors, fonts, and general style that make the platform recognizable); multi-language support; and personalized user dashboards displaying favorite teams, current bets, bonuses, and transaction history.

Since 70% of all bets are placed via mobile, your platform must be mobile-first. Whether you choose a native app offering high speed, the best UX, and direct access to all features, or a Progressive Web App (PWA), which works on any device on demand and doesn't require users to download it.

But user experience doesn’t end there. The modern user is quite demanding and often pinpoints your platform’s technical specifications better than many in-house testers. 

Your platform must be optimized to load quickly and function correctly, even with a poor mobile internet connection. In turn, the interface should scale perfectly and be convenient on devices with lower resolution or older hardware. 

Performance is always essential, especially if it’s live betting. This is where user experience and loyalty are highly vulnerable. 

How to Choose the Right iGaming Bookie Software Provider

If you decide to run your own sportsbook and not develop it from scratch, choose the right sportsbook software provider. This is a long-term partnership, so the evaluation criteria must be strict and comprehensive.

Compliance and Licensing

Licensing is non-negotiable. Ensure that the platform complies with all regulatory requirements of the jurisdictions in which you plan to operate, whether it’s an international market with an offshore license, or a local market like the UK, EU, or somewhere else. 

Plus, the provider must have ready-made or easily integrated modules for customer verification and AML procedures. If you work with reliable partners, you will be more visible in a market where reputation and credibility are everything.

Scalability and Performance

To support the growth of your business, the platform must be able to withstand peak loads in the future. Therefore, you must check the platform’s scalability, ensuring it can easily and quickly handle a sharp increase in the number of users.

The higher the uptime, the fewer problems you will encounter during live matches. The same applies to latency between the live match and the odds updates on your platform. 

Product and Risk Management

Your platform must be comprehensive from the beginning. That’s why there must be broad coverage of sporting events and market depth, automated control of limits, and detection of suspicious bets. Furthermore, users should have the ability to customize bets.

Wrapping Up

When considering running an online sportsbook, comprehensive software is core to your business’s long-term growth. 

The software is essential because it drives high uptime and low latency, especially for Live betting, which is just what the doctor ordered for retaining demanding users. 

Beyond delivering the user experience that customers expect, the software guarantees security and compliance thanks to its integration with KYC/AML modules and anti-fraud systems. 

If you add the necessary functionality to the software platform, such as broad market coverage and odds customization, then, depending on your business objectives, you will be able to scale it to handle future peak loads.

MGL can assist you with finding the jurisdiction that fits your business project and objectives the best. Book a free consultation with the top expert in iGaming licensing to get answers to all your questions.