SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Having been stung by Leicester City’s fairytale Premier League 2015/16 championship win, UK bookmakers appear to have put an end to their long-odds offerings, as they gear up for a new season of English football.
Ladbrokes a major victim of The Foxes’ title victory, reported that they had suffered a £3 million hit as football punters cashed-in on starter odds of 5000/1.
UK rival William Hill stated that its football markets for 2016 had suffered losses of between £2-3 million. With Premier League football being bookmakers most popular betting market, its appears that UK bookies will take no chances this season.
At present industry odds portal Oddschecker.com displays that Bournemouth, Burnley, Hull and West Bromwich Albion have been placed with the highest starting prices for Premier League victory, as the majority of UK bookmakers have priced the teams at 1000-1500/1.
On presenting its EPL Season 2016/17 starting odds, Ladbrokes stated to UK business news source City AM “It is not a definitive policy, but it’s the reality for us now,”
Commenting ahead of the start of the Premier League 2016/17 season, Philip Bowcock, Interim CEO of William Hill, stated: “We’ve currently got seven teams with odds of 1,000-1. Clearly these bets aren’t ludicrous because they win.”
