SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The World Cup is now nearing its final stages, and whilst England and Portugal were hit with disappointment over the weekend, Kindred Group has reported a positive reception for two key markets.
In an update written by Jonas Kobberholm, the firm’s Sportsbook Commercial Relations Manager, bet builders were highlighted as one of the winning products for the tournament.
The multi-bet offerings has accounted for 29% of the company’s World Cup bets, and has proven particularly popular with countries which have ‘many football stars’ such as Brazil and France.
Kobberholm explained: “The improved selection of bet offers in the Bet Builder has been very well received by our customers. The pre-match activity has increased by 35% from the group stage to the knock stage, which is more than twice the rise compared to the Euros.
“The real strength of the product comes to shine as the tournament progresses leaving fewer matches to place a classic combination bet on by the round.”
Prominent footballers have been included in 45% of Kindred customer’s bet builder wage slips and are the third most popular bet type, following under/over markets at the top spot and match betting at number two.
The popularity of bet builders among Kindred’s customers falls in line with some pre-World Cup predictions – two months before the kickoff in Qatar, the products were highlighted by speakers at the SBC Summit Barcelona.
Sharing their views on the keys to success for the tournament, a panel of specialists pointed to bet builders, free-to-play games and accumulators as potential winners, whilst one also highlighted over/under markets.
In Kindred’s update on World Cup trading, Kobberholm added that the progress made by Bet Builder products has resulted in a resurgence in pre-match betting activity after ‘many years of growth’ in live betting.
Bets on this market have risen to above 50%, and Kindred noted that this trend has become ‘very clear during a big event like the World Cup where we attract a much broader customer base’.
“The time zone also makes a difference with only the late match being played outside European working hours, while all matches are played during the night or working hours in North America and Australia,” Kobberholm noted.
With the final now less than seven days away, customers are naturally making their predictions on the betslip – Kindred has found that France has been backed by 31%.
This also falls in line with a long-term trend – France is a popular choice to defend their title, as SBC found out in last month’s SBC Leaders magazine – but Morocco’s success in Qatar has driven some to back them as an underdog, Kindred has observed.
“The many upsets during the tournament have led to an interesting change in betting behaviour, as customers have started to back the underdogs to a much larger extent than usual,” Kobberholm remarked.
“This has even left us in the unusual position of cheering some favourites on when they have gone down a goal. This is something we otherwise only experience in politics or one-off events like a celebrity boxing match.”
As the tournament comes to a close this weekend, the betting trends are as unpredictable as the final result, but more operators may reveal their observations in the following months.
