Poll: Is election betting just a minority market?
With the UK heading to the polls this week, we ask whether operators should be investing in their political betting products
Voters are set to head to the polls in the UK General Election on Thursday, and the event has attracted unprecedented interesting from gambling operators campaigning hard to attract both punters’ cash and column inches.
The likes of Ladbrokes, Betfair, Paddy Power and Coral have led from the front with bulging betting manifestos, apps and micro-sites as they look to take a share of a predicted £100m market.
Betfair was first out of the traps with its Betfair Predicts app, which uses Betfair’s live exchange prices to give an indication of how the country will vote both nationally and on a seat-by-seat basis.
Ladbrokes released a similar app, linking it to its Political Bookie forum page run by its political betting head Matthew Shaddick, while Coral recently launched its General Election Forecast updates.
However, with just hours to go until polling opens, a number of bookmakers have shown less enthusiasm with some yet to offer markets on all 650 constituencies, many of which are highly competitive marginal seats.
Bearing in mind one-off events such as the Grand National attracts wagers in the region of £200m, more than is expected to be wagered on this election, some operators appear to have taken the decision to direct resources to other areas of their businesses.
In addition, a sharp increase in polling has put pressure on trading teams to be increasingly alert to any sudden price movements, making turning a profit on election night no easy exercise.
But Betfair and Ladbrokes have balanced that risk up against the benefits they expect to feel in terms of marketing opportunities and new account openings as election fever grips the nation, with Betfair CEO Breon Corcoran having recently spoken about the value election betting can offer.
With this in mind, this week’s eGaming Review poll asks whether you feel operators should be investing in their election products or whether it is just an event that attracts a modest level of punter interest. Have you say on the right-hand side of the page.