Oddschecker insights: Sportsbook revenues face downward pressure in Q1
Shrinking overrounds and viewing figures expected to hurt football profits and turnover
Sportsbook revenues could see a downturn in 2018, according to new Oddschecker data, as bookmakers face increasing pressure on wagering and overrounds.
While bookmakers have been reporting record margin in Q4 – more than 13% at GVC – it could be a different story in Q1.
Premier League overrounds, for example, continue to erode, down to 103.7%, making the “the heady days of 106%+ in 2010/11 a distant memory”, according to Oddschecker.
Elsewhere, turnover is also under pressure from two angles, with the same run of football 0-0’s that boosted Q4 margin, helping to empty customer wallets.
Premier League viewing is also down 13% year-on-year.
“We are all aware of the strong correlation between viewing and staking (TV games get 119% more stakes then their non-televised counterparts), so it’s very important to stay close to the viewing numbers,” Oddschecker head of commercial Guy Harding said.
“Of the ten 0-0 draws in December it wouldn’t have helped that BT televised three of them.”
Harding also noted that while overall PL viewing was down, peak viewing was up 7%.
“The number of people viewing games is not down, but the amount of time they’re watching for is,” Harding said.
“This is evidenced by the increase in the peak to average viewing ratio from 1.37 to 1.64. This trend is not unique to England or indeed football, the same thing is being borne out across the pond in the NFL. Definitely one to keep an eye on.”
The Oddschecker data also highlighted individual bookmaker’s figures, with Marathonbet enjoying the largest year-on-year increase in click share, apparently thanks to its market-leading overrounds.
That said the correlation between price and click share was not that straightforward, with Ladbrokes “significantly widening their pricing” without it affecting their clickshare.
