John Vitti, Founder and CEO VersusGame, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss people gambling on the Olympic Games and outlook on the sports betting industry.

Video Transcript

- Welcome back. Well, changes in sports betting rules mean that now Americans can place their bets on the Tokyo Olympics. Let's chat this more with John Vitti, found and CEO of VersusGame. John, so let's just start with how popular betting on the Olympics is right now. How much money has really poured into this sports betting market?

JOHN VITTI: Well, thanks for having me. Excited about the Olympics as well just as a passive viewer. Yeah, I think there's about 20 million people that are planning on betting on the Olympics this year, which is much higher than before. I also think people are just more vocal about it and excited about it.

- Do you think that this is really the start of a new trend, so in the 2024 Games that we can see even more folks betting, and what's behind this explosion that we've really seen in some of these figures?

JOHN VITTI: Yeah, I completely think everything is going to gaming, right? Everybody wants to not turn from a passive watcher to an active participant, and they can't really get on the field with some of these athletes. But at least they can really engage and be more involved. I think there's a big catalyst there.

I think that's one of the big drivers. Plus, when you're passionate about something, it adds an extra element of fun. And since we've all been sitting on the couch during COVID a little bit, maybe some people want to make a little bit side money, so I think it adds to-- all those things are some drivers.

- I don't know, John. You're going to have to speak for yourself because I think there's a spot for me on the US Olympic team, at least in the race walking division, so I don't need to bet on it because I can participate in it.

JOHN VITTI: I'm with you. Let's go tandem. You start.

- But I do want to ask you because gambling now and sports betting has really just become so gamified thanks to technology essentially. Cell phones being with us everywhere, people don't essentially go to some of those betting spots anymore to really place their bets. How has really tech changed the game? What are the newest and next innovations in sports betting going forward?

JOHN VITTI: It really just brought everything into the light. Back in the day, people were doing it in the shadows or just talking about, hey, let's do this. I know a bookie and stuff like that. Ever since Vegas got more popular and, of course, DraftKings paved the way-- Skills just went public for, like, $10 billion a few months ago. It's trading on the NASDAQ, so all these things have really shed more light on it and said, OK, everyone, we're already doing this naturally.

It's primal. It's that reptilian part of our brain. We can't stop making predictions and having opinions, but now we see everyone else do it. Hey, so I want to be involved, and let's have some fun as long as it's OK.

- I know you mentioned with the pandemic, folks sitting on their couches, wanting to make a little bit more extra money, staring at their screens, is there any other ways you think that the pandemic has maybe changed sports betting permanently going forward, and do you think that that the pandemic really heightened interest, specifically in what's happening with the Olympics because we are, of course, a year delayed? We were supposed to have the Olympics last year.

JOHN VITTI: Yeah, I think absolutely. Everything has a direct result on everything else. There's always cause and effect. Even you see it with college sports, right? I don't know. I mean, there are some drivers there, but, I mean, so now people are able to-- like, college athletes are able to make some brands money from sponsorships, which is fantastic. Why not, right?

And then as far as the Olympics and just sports are concerned during COVID, during quarantine, there were none. Like, one of our investors is Kevin Durant. He's going to be in the Olympics, and there was nothing for anybody to do. And people were bummed out they couldn't watch their favorite teams. They couldn't rally. That sense of community wasn't really there, and now it's just out of the gates, that-- it's going to be that much bigger and that much better for everybody. So I think it's a good thing.

- I know that states now essentially are able to decide whether gambling, sports betting is going to be legal within their states because it's now legal across the country, and we've seen some states pass legislation where you can gamble. You can do this kind of sports betting. But it's been done piecemeal, and we are not seeing it across the entirety of the United States. And I remember actually having a conversation with the DraftKings CEO about this, and he, at the time, had said that he did not envision, really, a world or at least a nearby future where every state in the United States had passed some sort of legislation legalizing sports betting. I want to ask if you see things the same way, especially where we are now, and if you don't agree, how long do you think before we're going to see every state legalize it?

JOHN VITTI: Yeah, I actually absolutely think it's all going to go that way. Of course, over time. Imagine a world 10 years ago, right, what it really was 10 years ago compared to now. Drastically different. We have drones, self-driving cars, people flying to the moon for fun, or Mars, whatever. Imagine-- let's take a second to imagine what the world will be like 10 years from now, and it compounds because of what you said, because of technology. So I think it's all going to be opened up.

- What's next do you think, John? I mean, I mentioned already. It used to be that if you wanted to place a bet, you'd go to some of those offtrack betting places if you wanted to bet on a horse race. Now it's all on your phone. What's coming next do you think, especially as we do see technology consistently innovating around this, and what brands do you really think are going to start getting more and more involved in this space?

Apple, for example, getting more involved in video games. Do you think Apple perhaps could get involved into sports betting? Where do you see the future?

JOHN VITTI: Yeah, I mean, I even think-- so Netflix is already talking about this and chirping out about getting into "Fortnite" and being able to bet on what's going on. So like you mentioned, it's all on people's phones. I think the next big wave is basically self-driving content, where people are going to create their own questions, their own predictions, and let other people play.

I think that's the holy grail is user-generated content self serve, so-- and that's kind of what VersusGame is doing. We're letting people, the masses, not only play but pick what they want to play, and create those games, and share it with their friends because we're doing that already, so why not create a fair and fun platform for everybody as long as it's microtransactions, fair and fun for the masses? We want to make sure that you don't have to be rich to make money, so I think it's going that way. I think we want people, anybody, to be able to play and predict anything that's skill based, that's skill's involved. Why not?

- Democratizing sports betting. I love to hear it. John Vitti, founder and CEO of VersusGame, thanks so much for stopping by.