Oddschecker insights: Faltering football clubs boost bookmakers’ fortunes

Sports results in the second half of 2019 boosted by Premier League performance produced a favourable outcome for bookmakers, according to the latest data from Oddschecker.

Aside from all-conquering Liverpool, the Premier League’s ‘top six’ recorded mixed results at the start of the 2019-20 season – with the bookies’ favourite winning rate dropping to just 58%.

Draws also returned to a normal level after a drought at the backend of the 2018-19 season and with plenty of goals, BBTS matches hit 57% (compared to a 50% long-run average).

Premier League overrounds continued to trend upwards, averaging 104.5% – a 0.5pp rise on last season.

Elsewhere, results from the horseracing world provided a mixed bag for operators.

Winning favourites kept relatively close to the long-run average of 36%, while heavy rainfall in October wreaked havoc on the form book.

A profitable festive period saw just 32% of the winning favourites coming home in the last two weeks of the year, but big meetings at Goodwood and York stung operators with 40% of favourites obliging.

Bet365 strengthened its grip on the market, increasing its clickshare percentage across both football and racing markets with increases on 2018 of 21.1% and 28.3% respectively.

While the football market remained static compared to 2018, BetVictor and Betfair Exchange moved up the racing rankings from sixth to fifth and ninth to seventh respectively.

Oddschecker’s Quickbet platform also continued to grow with 24% year-on-year improvement in terms of customer betting activity.

The Oddschecker app now accounts for 35% of all bets placed with the company.