Weekend Review: Two-horse race at The Open frustrates bookies
Quieter weekend of sporting action sees only small wins for the layers
A lack of players in contention for The Open crown saw interest levels drop in what proved to be a quiet weekend for the bookmakers.
With Euro 2016 wrapped up, Betfred said the weekend was “very quiet” compared to recent weeks, and added the two-horse race between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson hit betting levels hard.
“It was a bit of a blow because it is one of our biggest events but not this year,” said Betfred’s Peter Spencer. “Because Stenson and Mickelson flew away into the lead, it meant there was a big reduction in the amount of people betting as it reduced the market.”
Despite small wins, Ladbrokes’ turnover took a “dent” compared to last year and said the two-horse race most likely hit in-play numbers too.
“By the time Stenson was lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday evening we were up and the satchel had a few coppers left in it, but it’s nothing to write home about,” said Ladbrokes’ Jessica Bridge.
The firm also bemoaned the switch of The Open’s TV coverage to Sky Sports, which resulted in lower viewing figures.
“As expected and anticipated the move to Sky Sports from BBC hit in-play turnover in The Open particularly hard,” added Bridge.
But there was big interest in Stenson’s home country of Sweden and Stockholm-listed operator Unibet said they were “hammered” on The Open outright.
“It was not only our Swedish punters who were mad for Stenson, the UK punters were all over this as well,” said Unibet’s William Vickery.
England’s defeat to Pakistan at Lords raised a smile at Betway in what was a “great” weekend for the firm as football took a backseat for a change.
“The cricket saw a lot of patriotic money go down the drain as Pakistan performed admirably at Lords to secure the first test,” said Betway’s Alan Alger.