The Impact of Weather on Sports Betting

There’s often a lot of chat about the weather between tipsters, sports broadcasters, and professional punters - but why? Well, weather conditions can significantly influence the outcome of sporting events.

We’re going to take a look at some of the ways that the weather impacts sports. Plus, we’ll give you some tips on how to leverage your new weather knowledge to your own benefit on your favourite sports betting sites.

Cricket - Blasted by All Weathers

More than perhaps any other sport, bowlers play an enormous part in cricket. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately depending on how you’ve bet) the weather can have a big impact on bowling. Below are the types of weather to look out for when placing bowling related bets and the effect they can have.

Rain in Cricket

A wet pitch can lead to more unpredictable bounce of the ball, as well as equally unpredictable seam movement. This can be advantageous to fast bowlers, as the damp allows the ball to skid and swing more.  

Excessive Heat in Cricket

Excessive sun can dry out a pitch, causing it to crack. This can be helpful to swing bowlers as the game goes on as the ball can spin off cracks in the ground, but these are also easy conditions for batters.

Humidity in Cricket

Swing bowlers are also benefited by high humidity levels as the ball can move more freely through less dense air. Do bear in mind that players fatigue more quickly in high humidity too though.

Wind in Cricket

Windy conditions are incredibly difficult to predict. The wind can work in the favour of the bowler, if its travelling straight and in the direction of the bowl, as it can speed the ball up. However, gusty or blustery wind that changes direction can make bowling on target much more difficult.

Baseball - Hitters and Humidity

Our final sport is baseball, but it’s by no means the last of the sports affected by the weather! However, the way that hitting is affected by humidity is really interesting.

Humid weather causes the air to be full of water, which is less dense than nitrogen and oxygen. This means the air is less dense when it’s humid. This lack of density allows the ball to travel further when hit, meaning there’s a higher chance of a home run!