Is Pesäpallo Betting Gaining Popularity?

As the online gambling landscape keeps exploding, one can expect the addition of new sports in bookies’ arsenals as operators seek to diversify their offerings, which often get heavily saturated with events from mainstream sports and leagues like the NFL, NBA, and top soccer/football ones. Early adoption of rising sports allows bookmakers to capture new markets, and niche competition types allow bookies to stack their offering during major league downtime. Thus, this allows them to have consistent action during off-seasons of traditional sports.

However, some of the sports they have started adding are not that novel. They have been around for decades. They have just not been exposed outside their local markets. One of these is Pesäpallo, often dubbed Finnish baseball. This is Finland’s national sport, which is colloquially known in Finnish as pesis. Outside of its native land, it has some presence in Australia, Ontario, Switzerland, Sweden, and Germany. It blends elements of baseball with unique twists like vertical pitching and a faster-paced structure.

Pesäpallo got created in the 1920s by Lauri Pihkala, a Finnish physical education instructor nicknamed Tahko who worked for the Finnish Army. He was an avid sports fan with a knack for creating various outdoor games. Per records, the first time that Pesäpallo got officially played was in November 2020. Hence, this is a sport with more than a century of history.

In recent years, online sportsbooks have begun adding Pesäpallo to their betting portfolios. From our review batch: FortuneJack, Trustdice, and Wolf.Bet let you wager on Pesäpallo . In our opinion, as said above, this reflects the growing demand for diverse betting markets, and Pesäpallo matches, particularly those from Finland’s top league, Superpesis, draw interest from Finnish gamblers and ones in a few other countries. So, why shouldn’t sportsbooks feature them, as this shows a trend of operators tapping into regional sports with dedicated fanbases?

Pesäpallo Explained

Pesäpallo gets played on a diamond-shaped field with four bases. As in most team competitions, this is a two-team sport, where each side has nine players that alternate between batting and fielding. There are two periods in a match, each with four innings. The objective in Pesäpallo is to score runs by hitting the ball and advancing around the bases to return to home plate. So, as you can tell, you get shades of baseball and cricket here.

The game begins with the pitcher, standing near home plate, tossing the ball vertically at least one meter above the batter’s head. The batter looks to hit the ball into the field within the boundaries. If successful, the batter runs to first base or beyond, while teammates on other bases advance. A side scores a run when a player goes back to home plate and completes the circuit, and unlike in baseball, runners can get tagged/forced out at bases, and fielders can earn outs by catching hits or throwing to bases.

A unique feature in Pesäpallo is the so-called wound, where a batter earns a free advance to first base after three failed pitches or specific infractions. The game ends after both teams complete their batting and fielding turns. Matches typically last about two hours, and they offer a good quality mix of strategy and athleticism.

Why Sportsbooks Are Embracing Pesäpallo

We already somewhat explained this, but will go through it again, quite briefly. The decision gets based on economic and technological factors. Portfolio diversification to stand out in a crowded market and appeal to as many people as possible is, without argument, the main reason. But Pesäpallo’s structure also makes it inherently betting-friendly, as it offers clear outcomes that can get easily translated into odds formats.

The sport’s relatively niche nature also allows many sportsbooks to offer live streams on top matches, which is something that makes it appealing for its fans to watch games at sportsbooks and it makes Pesäpallo a more enticing betting option to those unfamiliar with it, as they can watch its contests happening in real-time as they bet on them.

How Pesäpallo Betting Works

It is pretty straightforward, as it, more or less, mirrors baseball wagering. You can pick match winner, period winner, totals – betting on combined runs scored or making various prop wagers. It is paramount that everyone gambling on this sport grasps concepts like fair hits (batted balls landing in play) and catches (fielders catching hits to end plays). That is so because these influence betting markets and game results.

Totals, also known as Over/Under, is when bettors predict whether the combined runs scored by both teams will exceed or fall below a set number, and this is a popular option since Pesäpallo’s scoring system can produce high run totals.

Of course, you also have outright markets, predicting things like the Superpesis champion or the Pesäpallo World Cup winner, as well as handicap or spread betting. Specials or props include some creative options, such as betting on most runs scored by a batter or total fair hits. But, we must mention that these options are less commonly provided.

Top Pesäpallo Leagues & Tournaments

There is really only one top domestic Pesäpallo league, and that is the Finnish one – the Superpesis. Technically, there is a Pesäpallo league system in Finland, including sub-leagues and female ones.

On the international level, the competition to watch is the Pesäpallo World Cup, which has been running since 1992 and has only been won by Finland. Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Australia have come second on the men’s side. What is worthwhile to highlight about this competition is that it has gotten held two years apart, three years apart, four years apart, and even five years apart.

Considerations for Pesäpallo Wagering

A factor to think about is market liquidity. Unlike top sports, like, let us say, basketball, Pesäpallo attracts fewer bettors, leading to thinner markets where large wagers can shift odds dramatically. Also, keep in mind that weather conditions significantly impact Pesäpallo matches, as they get played outdoors, and rain or wind can substantially disrupt batting and fielding.

Is Pesäpallo Betting Really Gaining Traction?

In Finland, it is popular, but outside it, it still remains a niche market. We have seen it gain some traction in select European regions on account of its novelty, but nothing sizeable. Because famed odds sites are comparing/listing Pesäpallo markets, we can conclude that it sees enough action to justify aggregation. Consequently, we can say it has gotten modest traction over the years but nothing dramatic, and its further growth depends on increased international exposure. As noted, live streaming integration has been and will be, a game-changer, as it brings Pesäpallo to global audiences.

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