Weekend Review: No cupsets but racing and tennis provide boost

A lack of FA Cup giant killings denied the bookies a big payday this weekend but there was enough action elsewhere to ensure it wasn’t all bad news.

Manchester United’s routine 3-1 victory over Derby County on Friday night augured poorly for bookmakers ahead of a fourth-round draw which proved untroubling for most Premier League teams.

“It was a tough start to the weekend with Man Utd’s 3-1 win away to Derby on Friday night, which saw the Sky Bet priceboost land costing us well over half a million pounds and getting the weekend off to a flyer for punters,” said Sky Bet head of PR Sandro Di Michele.

Others took a more positive spin on the result, with Ladbrokes PR officer Alex Donohue saying it was a favourable result for the bookie, with many punters sensing an upset.

For most, however, wins for United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and Everton was bad news.

“The lack of shocks and draws in the FA Cup this weekend proved costly for bookies as many customers landed big wins for small stakes in their Saturday multiples,” said Coral PR director Simon Clare.

Steve Freeth, bet365 trading PRO, said it was a winning weekend for FA Cup punters to the tune of ?2m.

The only silver-lining was Peterborough’s late equaliser against West Brom, which BetVictor head of communications Charlie McCann said “saved a bloodbath” in what was a good weekend for punters.

Among the weekend’s other football, William Hill PR man Rupert Adams said wins for the big teams in Italy, Spain, Germany and France also proved costly.

“Celtic’s defeat to Ross County provided a brief respite but results from the major European leagues were also poor for us with the vast majority of favourites winning,” Adams said.

“One client had a winning ?1 16-fold which won him ?183,000 and when things like that happen you know you have had a bad weekend,” he added.

It was a stronger weekend away from the football, with bookies seeing favourable results in both Australian Open finals.

“The highlight of the weekend was the Australian Open final which culminated in total domination by Novak Djokovic. A 1/4 shot to win the final he unsurprisingly wasn’t popular with punters and we saw plenty of patriotic pounds being wagered on Andy Murray,” said Sky Bet’s Di Michele.

On the women’s side, 1/7 shot Serena William’s shock defeat to Angelique Kerber was also a positive.

And finally in the weekend’s racing, Djakadam’s fall in the feature race at Cheltenham provided bookies with some upside.

“A Willie Mullins hot pot getting beaten was a very welcome result and something we thought we have to wait a while to see given his recent raids on our shores,” said Lads’ Donohue.

“While many recreational customers avoided Djakadam in singles, the Thistlecrack double and all other multiples went down which helped a great deal,” he added.