Without having to look too far, you can deduce from a simple glance how much influence the lucrative and booming global gambling industry has on sports in general. Over the years, famous football teams and even competitions have been primarily sponsored by one betting firm or the other. It becomes even clearer when you find these completely independent betting companies displaying their logo vividly on the team’s kits or the tournament’s banner.
Recent research findings confirmed how the sports gambling market in the United States of America has generated an annual gross revenue projected to surpass a whopping $155bn. Thrilling! As an extension, the aggregate revenue generated globally from the sports betting market is pitched between $700bn and $1 trillion. Without any doubt, it is clear that most times, the revenue generated from sports betting outweighs every other commercial means employed by sports’ organizing bodies, like traditional ticket earnings.
This level of influence cannot be undermined in any way. The presence of betting in the sports industry has come to stay and will continue to be a driving force significantly. In this article, we will examine the different prominent sports tournaments, checking out the ones that are the best for you to put your stakes on. We have generated a list of five different and popular sports tournaments that are best for betting in the UK. Dive in!
FIFA World Cup
With the level of attention, participation, support, finances, revenues, and passion enjoyed by the game of soccer, you will agree with us that it is inarguably the most popular sport all around the world. Having known that, it should no longer be surprising to discover that this sport enjoying such a huge reception turns out to be the most popular sport to place your bets on.
It is figured that the bets coming into football from different parts of the world account for well over 70% of the world’s entire betting income. If this is so, and the World Cup is the biggest competition of this sport, then, without doubt, the World Cup will be the most popular sporting tournament to bet on.
The Russia 2018 World Cup accrued an estimated £41.3 billion profit out of bettors to bookmakers globally. In the United Kingdom alone, coupled with the inspiring run of the English national team, down to the semi-finals, there was a boost in the number of bets placed. The number of bets placed on the competition doubled that of the previous tournament, from £1bn to £2.5bn.
The Grand National
Horse racing amongst every other sport is one that is very dependent on the amounts of bets it receives per race. This is coupled with the fact that there is no other race that has managed to receive a significant amount of audience as the Grand National has received over the years.
The bets received range from casual bets to serious ones. This annual horse racing event held at Aintree lures in a larger audience than any other race throughout the year. British bookmakers likewise confirmed that the 2017 edition of the race drew in bets going over £300m, and viewing figures of over 600 million globally.
The Hundred (Cricket)
The Hundred is another professional franchise 100-ball cricket competition that is held in England and Wales. This tournament is organized by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). This year’s edition was initially slated to begin in the summer of 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will not hold anymore until 2021.
As a tournament, this event likewise draws in quite a ton of revenues from bets placed on games; making it a tournament to watch out for if you wish you cart in some good wins as a punter.
Royal Ascot
Royal Ascot is a venue that plays host to horse racing events on its dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England. This racecourse is home to 13 of the 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races in Britain and three Grade 1 Jumps races.
Ascot Racecourse is attended by virtually 600,000 people annually. This figure accounts for 10% of all UK racegoers. It is an important event for horse race lovers all over the UK which further points to it being a fertile ground for sports bets as well.
UEFA European Football Championship
This is another epochal event in the sporting world as well as in the world of football. The significance of this football tournament further affects the gambling world as the UEFA European Football Championship sets the stage for a huge amount of bets.
There are several ways to gamble in sports. There are various games, platforms and tournaments to try out at different points in the sporting calendar year. But from this long list of tournaments available for you to place your bets, the five tournaments we have listed out are your best shot at bagging those big wins.