Virtual sports API: football, racing and greyhounds around the clock

What is a virtual sports API?

A virtual sports API delivers computer-generated sporting events — football matches, horse races, greyhound races, basketball games — that run on a fixed schedule around the clock, with odds, a betting window and an animated broadcast. The API lists the virtual products, gives you a launch link, and sends each stake and each settled payout to your wallet. With SoftAggregator, virtual titles arrive through the same integration as the casino catalogue and live alongside our sports betting API for real-world events.

Virtuals answer a simple problem: real sport has gaps. On a Tuesday morning in Asia there is little football to bet on; in the middle of the night in Europe, nothing at all. A virtual league plays a full round every few minutes, every hour, every day of the year, and the sports bettor always has a next match.

How a virtual event is produced

A virtual match is not a video of a real match. It is a result drawn by a certified random number generator, then rendered as an animation that plays out that result. The order is always the same:

1. Scheduling. The engine publishes the next events — for example a full matchday of a virtual league — with teams, form and odds, a few minutes in advance.
2. Betting window. Players place bets until the countdown ends. Markets look like real football: 1X2, over/under goals, correct score, both teams to score.
3. Outcome and broadcast. The RNG fixes the result; the graphics engine animates it, usually in a condensed highlight of one to three minutes.
4. Settlement. Bets are settled immediately after the broadcast, and the next event is already open.

The odds contain the margin, as in any sportsbook, and the strength ratings of virtual teams stay consistent over a season, so regular players develop the same habits they have with real leagues: favourites, form, head-to-head. That continuity is why well-built virtual leagues keep their audience.

Which virtual sports players bet on

• Virtual football. By far the largest. Leagues modelled on the English, Spanish or Italian formats, plus virtual World Cups and Champions League-style knockouts. Very strong in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
• Horse racing and greyhounds. The historical core of virtuals from UK betting shops. Short races, many runners, win and place and forecast bets.
• Basketball, tennis and cricket. Faster formats that suit markets where these sports dominate; virtual cricket has a natural audience in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
• Speedway, cycling, motor racing. Niche, but good for variety in a virtual lobby.
• On-demand virtuals. Instead of a shared schedule, the player launches an event whenever they want and watches it immediately. These sit halfway between a sportsbook and an instant game.

Specialist studios such as Kiron Interactive, Inspired Entertainment, Golden Race and Leap Gaming built this category, and casino studios such as Pragmatic Play have added their own virtual products. Players rarely know the studio; they recognise the league format and the graphics quality.

Virtuals are not esports

Operators often mix three things under one word. Virtual sports are RNG results rendered as animation. eFootball or “esoccer” matches are real people playing football video games, usually in short tournament formats, and they are bet on like any live event with real uncertainty. Classic esports — Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, League of Legends — are professional competitions. The last two belong to the sportsbook, and we cover them on the esports betting API page.

What an operator should check

• Event frequency and variety. How often does each league restart, and how many sports are on offer? A thin schedule feels empty.
• Return to player. Virtuals publish their payout in the game or product rules, and it is built into the odds. Compare it across products the way you compare slots.
• Stake range. Virtual bettors in Africa and South Asia often place very small multi-bets; check that the minimum stake makes sense in your currency.
• Graphics on low bandwidth. Most virtual bets come from phones. A heavy video stream loses players on 3G; test with device=mobile.
• Bet history clarity. A player who sees “Virtual League, Matchday 12, Team A v Team B” in their history trusts the product more than one who sees a bare round number.

How virtual sports settle in your wallet

Virtual titles delivered through our catalogue use the same seamless wallet as every other game. The difference is the rhythm: a stake is taken at bet time and the payout comes when the event finishes, often a few minutes later.

• Stake: a GET debit call with the amount in minor units, the round_id of the event and a unique call_id. Answer with the new balance, or error: 1 and the current balance if funds are short.
• Payout: a GET credit call after the broadcast. Losing bets produce no credit.
• Void events: a cancelled event comes back as a rollback marked rb=1; apply it like any other movement.
• Open bets: between stake and payout the bet is simply open; your reporting should not treat it as missing.

Every callback is signed (key = md5(timestamp + salt_key), timestamp valid for 30 seconds), and your endpoint returns HTTP 200 with error: 0 on success. The contract and examples are in the API documentation.

Adding virtuals to your lobby step by step

1. Call getGameList and keep the entries with game_type: virtual, our normalised category for virtual sports.
2. Decide where they live: operators with a sportsbook usually add a “Virtuals” tab next to Live and Pre-match; casino-only operators put them in their own casino category.
3. Create players in the currency they bet in; launch with getGame and the right device.
4. Promote the schedule, not the game: “a football match every few minutes” is the message that works.

If you also run real sports, the sportsbook API uses the same wallet contract, so a single balance covers virtual matches, real fixtures and casino games. The project view of a sportsbook launch is on our sportsbook API integration guide.

Currencies for virtual betting

Virtuals are big in markets where players bet small amounts often, so local currency support is a real advantage. Natively we work with, among others, USD, EUR, ZAR, ETB, INR, BDT, PKR, BRL, MXN, ARS, TRY, PHP and IDR. When your players’ currency is not in the native set, keep the account in USD or EUR and convert at your cashier; contact us and we will find the setup that fits your market. The virtual catalogue and currency set evolve continuously; the API always returns the current list.

Why operators choose SoftAggregator for virtual sports

Virtual sports fill the empty hours of your sportsbook and give casino players a sports flavour. With SoftAggregator they come in the same package as 40,000+ games from 200+ providers, a single seamless wallet, local currencies and a team that onboards you in days. One integration, one balance, casino and sport together.

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