SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Betfair has said that its Next President market is set to become the most traded it has ever seen, even surpassing the Brexit vote.
By 6 November, approximately $130 million had been traded on the winner of the presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. This figure is in comparison to roughly $50 on the equivalent market in 2012, and $159 million laid on the Brexit referendum.
Naomi Totten, Betfair spokeswoman, said: “The amount bet so far on the 2016 contest dwarfs the roughly $50 million laid on the 2012 race. We think it is because of how raw the Brexit (vote) is in people’s minds – they’re not convinced yet that it’s a done deal.”
Féilim Mac An Iomaire, spokesman for Paddy Power, said that the runaway popularity of the Next President market is in part explained by Trump’s celebrity status, and that the election is ‘definitely on course to be the biggest political event’, with around $4.38 million worth of bets placed so far.
For Paddy Power, which merged with Betfair earlier this year, this is even though politics is more of a ‘niche market’ compared with the ‘bread and butter’ of the site, which continues to be sporting events.
Back in June 2016, most polls leading into the referendum vote predicted Britons would choose to remain in the EU. Instead, it went the other way, as the ‘leave’ campaign prevailed with 52% of the vote.
