SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Martin Clarke, Chief Growth Officer at OddsMatrix, sits down with SBC News to take a look at betting behaviour on the EveryMatrix platform during the bumper summer of sport which saw both the Euros and Copa America take place.
SBC News: It was heartbreak for England and delight for Spain as Mikel Oyarzabal’s late strike won the Euros for the four time Champions. How was the final of Euro 2024 from a trading perspective for OddsMatrix?
Martin Clarke: Being Irish, let’s just say I remained neutral on this one. Sort of!
Looking back on the Euros, it was a great spectacle and a fitting end to the tournament, pitting the meanest defence against the most lightning attacking force. Spain arguably deserved to win due to their willingness to play with flair and freedom throughout the four weeks in Germany. They also managed to beat all the previous winners of the Euros in Italy, Germany and France so, on balance, they were worthy winners.
From a betting perspective, the final generated the highest number of bets with 1.7x more bets placed on the final compared to the average across other Euro 2024 games, but equally it scored the lowest margin reflecting how confident punters were the Spanish would complete seven out of seven wins and lift the trophy.
In the semi-finals, the tie between France and Portugal was a goldmine for our customers with a 28% margin. In contrast, Spain vs Germany was the least profitable at just 6.5%. Overall, the margin was 10.7% for the tournament, slightly above what we would normally expect.
Crucially, it also provided great insight into how we compare to our peers with OddsMatrix offering more than 900 markets per match, in stark contrast to the industry average of only 200!
SBC: Meanwhile, Lionel Messi may have suffered injury but Argentina once again triumphed in Copa America. How did OddsMatrix fair in the Americas this summer?
MC: His swollen ankle aside, he was and still is simply unstoppable, and so are Argentina. For any football loving punter, July was an amazing month with both the Euros and Copa on at the same time. When one finished, the other started due to time zones so it was an amazing summer of football.
The Copa America final was another tight affair but was the complete opposite to the Euros final in betting terms, with Argentina vs Colombia the most popular and most profitable match of the tournament, with a very high 50% margin.
Margin is directly correlated with the results of the games and the number of goals scored so, with the Copa final 0-0 at 90 minutes, this was a key factor that led to a higher margin percentage compared to a 2-1 scoreline in regulation time in the Euros final.
SBC: How was OddsMatrix trading impacted by the sporting results in both tournaments?
MC: It was a great event for the bookies, you could argue, and we saw increased trading because of both tournaments. Market uptime has a big bearing on this. Across the entire tournament, OddsMatrix outperformed the industry average by up to seven minutes for Copa and up to four minutes across the Euros on the availability of main markets in-play. This meant our customers were able to generate significantly higher revenues than competitors using other technologies.
We put customer experience first and our market uptime stats are consistently higher than competitors and industry averages, offering players an uninterrupted betting experience and operators a boost in bet count and volume.
SBC: What are the key betting insights from the Euros and Copa America this summer?
MC: Both tournaments produced some fascinating betting behaviours that we plotted and posted on social media across four weeks. This was particularly the case for the finals and semifinals with Copa scoring higher in almost every metric.
For the Euros, 8% of the total share of bets across OddsMatrix were placed on the semi-finals and final with four European heavyweights battling it out. This compared to 12% of the total Copa America bets placed on the final, with four times more bets on the final compared to the average on other matches.
Copa punters staked 28% more on the final than on the rest of the matches versus 18% for Euro fans highlighting just how big these finals were in terms of betting.
Betting activity boomed in the semi-finals with 23% of the total Copa America bets placed then as well as on the final, while overall the Copa delivered an impressive 21% margin, with Argentina vs Canada the most profitable match. On the other hand, the highest-scoring match, Paraguay vs Brazil, was the least profitable event.
While we know that Bet Builder is more prevalent and available on UK and European sportsbooks than in Latin America, it was interesting to see they attracted similar levels of interest with one in four Bet Builder bets containing at least five legs for the Euros compared to a surprising 30% of five-leg Bet Builder bets for the Copa.
SBC: Were there any interesting player/team lines that particularly caught the eye?
MC: It was a tournament in which many of the star teams and big names failed to turn up with many underperforming, looking lethargic or carrying injuries including Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe, all of whose goals and shots were scarce compared to the levels punters expected.
In the early rounds, surprising names such as Italy’s Federico Chiesa showcased his skills with four shots in the last 16 despite his country’s exit to Switzerland, delivering value for bettors who wagered on the over 1.5 expected line; Kai Havertz remained a top choice, also with four shots on target exceeding the over 1.5 line and Alvaro Morata’s unpredictable form struck again, netting only one shot against the over 3.5 line.
Even Spain didn’t score or have as many shots as many thought they would in the latter stages of the tournament, heavily backed to cover over 12.5 shots in the semi-finals, but only managing six. Consumers bet on all four semi-finalists to cover similar shot targets, but none came close.
Spain’s flying young wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, however, saved the day and were the highlight of the four weeks, particularly during the final, rewarding savvy punters who bet on both over 1.5 expected shots and over 0.5 expected shots on target.
SBC: What made the OddsMatrix platform stand out from the crowd this summer?
MC: It’s been an unbeatable summer of sport for fans, made even more profitable for them and our customers thanks to more markets, more uptime, more unbeatable odds, more tech driven efficiency and the same high levels of service and responsiveness we’ve become known for.
In June/July, OddsMatrix reached a record 176,000 live events in a single month and a total of 500,000 during the second quarter of 2024, up 16% and with an average monthly number of bets placed reaching 36.5m.
This has led to a track record of sustained client loyalty which defines us as the premier Sportsbook provider, where strong client relationships are not just promised but proven.
