SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Bet365’s new ‘Sub On Play On’ feature has paid out over £18m to its customers in its first month of release, with last weekend’s Copa del Rey final standing out in particular.
Betting on the match, contested between Real Madrid and Barcelona over on Saturday 26 April, saw bet365 experience a significant number of losses.
Steve Freeth, a Sports and Trading Expert with bet365, commented: “The Copa del Rey final was brutal, so much so it’s the most we’ve lost on Bet Builders since the 2022 World Cup Final!”
Sub On Play On, launched 11 March, sees a bettor’s wager on a player roll over to their replacement if the player in question is subbed off during a game. It is similar to the ‘Super Sub’ first launched on Paddy Power and the ‘Impact Sub’ later launched on William Hill.
Barcelona’s 3-2 win at home saw 15 Shots on Target, 15 Corners, six Bookings and four goals in normal time. This led to bet365 having to make some substantial payouts, but the product’s value in attracting and engaging both and existing products may compensate for this.
Freeth explained: “This was enough to do the damage with all the big guns bar Rodrygo having shots on target, so step forward his half time replacement, Kylian Mbappe, to not only hit the target but also to score as punters profited from our Sub On Play On concession.”
As per the release, all qualifying bets placed on Rodrygo were ‘played on’ with none other than Kylian Mbappe, when the French star entered the pitch.
Betbuilders as a mainstay of British betting
Bet builders have become increasingly popular over the past few years, and seem as though they are here to stay. However, its only recently has the product been undergoing a revamp with the addition of the Super Sub-style features.
Right away, bet365 took the product live across 20 different countries and across its most popular sports markets including the Premier League, LaLIga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Champions League.
This is not the first time a series of big payouts has occurred following the roll out. Recent games involving Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United created a lot of engagement for the feature.
Villa stands out as one of the most popular choices for bet365 Sub On, Play On punters, with improved squad depth under manager Unai Emery providing bettors with solid insurance if their chosen goalscorer is replaced.
The club’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest earlier this month was particularly lucrative for one punter to the tune of a £1,000 win, bet365 detailed. Other winners included a bet on Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka’s which was rolled onto Ethan Nwaneri during a 4-0 win against Ipswich.
Freeth added: “Villa fans must be rubbing their eyes at the quality that Unai Emery is now able to turn to when changing the game, and we’ve seen some big payouts in the recent games versus Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Newcastle.
“Our most expensive payout to date was £1.4m, paid out on the Forest game to be exact when Marcus Rashford replaced Ollie Watkins on 62 minutes and then had a Shot on Target which caused the real damage, while Jota Silva coming on for Anthony Elanga and scoring added to the pain.”
