SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Ladbrokes’ Public Relations Officer Alex Donohue discusses and charts the continued rise of novelty and political betting ahead of this month’s Scottish Independence Referendum.
SBC: How would you describe the phenomenon of novelty betting, the pros and cons?
Alex: It’s a phenomenon that has been around for longer than many people are aware of – the first political bet was struck on the general election of 1966. I’d say the general public are now well aware that these days, one can ‘bet on anything’ and even among those who never or rarely gamble, the idea of placing a bet on the winner of an election or the X Factor isn’t an alien concept. A major pro is that as an area of our business it accounts for several million pounds’ worth of turnover and it’s something we take seriously. I can think of very few, if any cons, especially since we have a dedicated, professional and expert novelty betting odds compilation and trading team.
SBC: Is there further scope for sportsbook operators to diversify here, that it endless possibilities instead of mainstream sports that must be covered?
Alex: There’s always further scope to offer more ‘novelty’ markets on non-sporting events within the bounds of taste, the law and decency. So long as the event can clearly be resulted, we’ll always be open to the possibility of taking bets on it.
SBC: Personally, we like the idea of Chris Kamara becoming the next Prime Minister. How popular has betting on politics become?
Alex:Political is growing steadily and the major events end up becoming some of the most significant betting events of our calendar. We’re well on course to take over a million pound on the Scottish referendum and the general election could break the ten million mark. Whether or not those customers then come back to have a bet on the next European Commissioner or Parliamentary candidate market is another thing, but when political events top the news agenda, turnover soars.
SBC: Can novelty markets actually compete with sports stakes, or do bookmakers see them as an additional sidebar offering?
Alex: They are very much an offering in their own right and treated as such. They will never match turnover on core betting sports but grouped together their contribution is incredibly significant.
SBC: Can you give us an idea of some past wagers that have come in, or future ones that would be a massive liability for the company?
Alex: George Galloway to win the Bradford West by-election hurt us a great deal as he started off at 33/1. We have some bets in the system at fairly long odds revolving around Boris Johnson one day becoming PM too which will trigger decent payouts should they come good
