SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Tipster service City Bet Club has suggested that this year’s World Cup has been the most bookie-friendly tournament in recent history.
The Qatar-based competition did not see a single day during the group stages that all favourites won their games, which helped lead the company, founded by betting industry veterans, to its conclusion.
Operators saw significant revenue netted far earlier than usual in the competition, which saw early shocks such as Saudi Arabia beating Argentina, Germany’s defeat to Japan and Tunisia overcoming France.
David Brown, Co-founder of City Bet Club, commented on the findings: “In reflecting on this year’s World Cup, and taking my personal industry experience of every tournament since Argentina 1978 into account, this is by far the most bookie-friendly competition in terms of results that I’ve ever known.
“I’m also picking up whispers from around the industry that ‘like for like’ turnover is down significantly on Russia 2018 levels. Now, part of this could be down to the results and timing, but it is also likely to be an effect of the compliance hoops both bookmakers and punters must go through now.”
Higher than expected revenue for bookmakers was compounded further with multiple 90-minute draws during the knockout stages.
The group highlighted that as a result of this, the World Cup is likely to point towards a significant margin-win for betting operators, and early-stage wipe-outs for many punters.
However, with a finite spend for punters, City Bet Club also predicts that turnover levels will have been ‘significantly impacted’ during the knockout stages of the tournament.
In particular, publicly listed operators’ January 2023’s earnings reports are likely to downgrade many financial analysts’ expectations.
Brown continued: “All eyes are now on the return of the Premier League. City Bet Club can really help to empower recreational punters with pro punter insight. We complete this research so that our members don’t have to, and we can’t wait to keep fueling a high level of sports betting engagement in the new year.”
