US presidential election breaks record amount matched on Betfair Exchange

Betfair Exchange’s political betting market for the ‘Next President’ has seen £201.5m matched so far, which sets a new record amount traded in the exchange’s 20-year history. With six days still to go until Election Day on 3 November, the total matched has eclipsed the previous record of £199m on the 2016 presidential election. This year’s race to the White House between Donald Trump and Joe Biden has led to more being matched on Betfair than the Super Bowl, Grand National, Mayweather versus McGregor and the 2018 World Cup Final combined, tweeted spokesman Sam Rosbottom.

🚨The @BetfairExchange 2020 US Election market has become the biggest betting event of all time, smashing the 2016 record of £199m. With 6 days to go, £200m has been wagered, which is more than the Super Bowl, Grand National, Mayweather vs McGregor and the 2018 WC final combined. pic.twitter.com/2pyEk3FF2y

— Sam Rosbottom (@BetfairSam) October 28, 2020

Almost £50m has been matched in the past week alone, which means the eventual total is expected to breach £300m especially if there are dramatic twists and turns in the next few days. In fact, Betfair predicts it could reach £400m based on past volume trends. Last week, Betfair revealed that a UK bettor placed a £500,000 bet on Joe Biden at odds of 1.53 (8/15), which is still the largest bet the firm has taken on the 2020 US election. In fact, 10 of the biggest bets have been on the former vice-president. Meanwhile, Lithuanian politician, high-stakes gambler and founder of PokerNews and TonyBet, Antanas Guoga, announced yesterday that he had “a million” riding on Biden.

I’m sweating the US elections big time as I have a million on Biden to win! Predict Biden’s EXACT number of electoral college votes. Strictly only one entry per person. If you choose correctly I will send you one ethereum! pic.twitter.com/1CAc8rD5Gb

— Tony G (@TonyGuoga) October 27, 2020

Biden, who has been matched at a high of 100 (99/1), is currently 1.52 while Trump can be backed at 2.92 (19/10) to serve a second term. However, Betfair sparked controversy earlier this month for suspending betting on the election after Trump contracted Covid-19, thereby preventing customers from trading out of positions. Rival exchanges Matchbook and Smarkets kept their markets open while the 45^th president was hospitalised. Despite this, the US election has once again been a driver of customer activity and press coverage for both Betfair and Smarkets. Sarbjit Bakhshi, head of political markets at Smarkets, said: “We’re expecting to trade more this year than all the others that we’ve offered a politics product put together. “The US election and the polarising nature of Trump may be driving some of this volume, but over the last couple of years we’ve had good year-on-year growth.”