Whilst all bookmakers are consumed by Russia 2018 trading, they may have neglected a major sporting event taking place this summer.
Scheduled for a sell-out Manchester Arena on 25 August, British social media star KSI is set to box controversial American vlogger Logan Paul.
A boxing match between two novice ‘whitecollar’ fighters, won’t set the sporting world alight, however, bookmaker Coral believes that KSI vs Logan Paul will be a solid market proposition.
Both KSI and Logan Paul have a YouTube and social media following, that far exceeds star athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Floyd Mayweather or Serena Williams.
Following the script of all boxing mega-fights, KSI vs Logan Paul has been amplified by the bad blood shared between the two social media stars and their respective diehard fan bases.
For Coral, one of the few UK bookmakers pricing the YouTuber boxing match, KSI vs Logan Paul is the real deal.
Speaking to SBC, Harry Aitkenhead PR Executive for Coral details initial market insights;
“In our book it does go down as a sports event, even though the standard might not be quite as high as the other boxing matches we bet on! It can be difficult to gauge having not seen much of the contenders in action, however, we saw KSI beat another YouTube star in Joe Weller back in February and that performance means for this bout coming up he is our hot odds-on favourite, at 1/2.
That fight back in February drew in more than 15 million viewers online, which is more than the 2017 epic clash between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley”.
With just over 2-months to go until the YouTubers meet in Manchester, Coral expects, the event alone to capture the public’s interest.
Coral admits that KSI vs Logan Paul won’t come close to breaking its fight night records, however, this unique event may expose bookmakers to new audiences deeply entrenched in Social media culture. For this dynamic alone, KSI vs Logan Paul may be 2018’s most intriguing betting market…
“From Coral’s point of view, it’s a great market to offer betting on as these personalities like KSI and Logan Paul who are so popular. Around 2 million people watched the press conference between the pair online this week and the numbers will only increase for the fight. It’s also about which has the opportunity to attract some new customers, who are more interested in the likes of KSI, Joe Weller and Logan Paul than they are the boxing but will still be interested in the betting angle of it” Aitkenhead adds,