Poll results: Voters split on Betfair’s exchange vulnerability 

EGR readers are split on the future of the Betfair exchange, with 52% of respondents to this week’s poll suggesting the market leader is vulnerable to competitors.

Ladbrokes Coral-owned Betdaq became the latest exchange to throw down its challenge to Betfair last week, slashing its commission rate to 2% across the board and pledging a “series of additional improvements”.

And the firm has hailed an uptick in its liquidity since that move, with £50m matched in the first 3 days after the new commission rate was announced.

And Betdaq isn’t the only firm trying to close the gap on Betfair, with Matchbook and Smarkets also growing in recent months and investing as such.

Smarkets agreed to sponsor 240 Jockey Club races earlier in January, while Matchbook pledged to increase marketing spend by 300% in 2018.

But 48% of voters believe Betfair is rock solid at the top of the market. The product is expected to get more love from the product and technical teams now the platform migration at Paddy Power Betfair is all but complete.

Likewise, the firm has the kind of liquidity that takes years to build and might never be replicated by a rival.