SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
William Hill revealed that 80% of the bets taken on their Scottish Independence market backed the yes vote for the upcoming on referendum on Thursday 18 September.
William Hill, Scotland’s biggest bookmaker revealed that it had so far taken more than £2 million in betting money for the market. The Scottish Referendum has become the biggest political market the operator has ever had.
The operator revealed that Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and Perth had strongly supported the yes vote, with a 90% backing in the regions.
Nevertheless William Hill English customers were much more evenly split between the two camps, with 59% in London backing ‘no’, 65% in Liverpool and 52% in Newcastle. Manchester saw 72% of all bets had been placed on ‘Yes’.
William Hill Media Manager Graham Sharpe commented on the market trends: “This is by far the biggest political betting event ever. There is no way we could have envisaged turning over in excess of £2m when the market was first opened.”
Despite recent polls putting ‘Yes’ as a marginal favourite in the public’s eyes that has not translated to the betting prices with ‘Yes’ 3/1 and ‘No’ 2/9 with ‘Yes’ on the drift in the last few days.
