Does Football Betting Pay Off?

Source: Statista

Sports betting has become omnipresent in professional football. While there has been a ‘whistle-to-whistle’ ban on TV advertising from betting companies for a few years in the UK, there are still plenty of other avenues being exploited by gambling companies. The most prominent of which is that of shirt sponsorship. Behind only perhaps the renaming of a stadium, the centre of a teams’ jersey is prime advertising real estate. As of the 2021/22 season, 9 of the 20 Premier League clubs have a main shirt sponsor from the industry.

So how widespread is betting on matches among football fans? The European Football Benchmark by Statista and Sportfive provides answers to this question. Of the 2,800 football fans surveyed in the UK, 37 percent said they place bets on matches. However, this only pays off for a minority. 30 percent of the gamblers say that they win money over the course of an average season. In a European comparison, UK fans are pretty average when looking at the countries host to the ‘Big-5’ leagues. The rate of football betting is highest in Italy – despite the fact that the fewest respondents there are on the winning side (or they’re just more honest). Either way, there is clearly still truth in the old adage: The house always wins.

Does Football Betting Pay Off

The Most Successful Countries at the Africa Cup of Nations

Source: Statista

The African Cup of Nations is currently underway. Hosted by Cameroon, 24 countries have been playing for the right to be crowned the 33rd champions of the continent. There have been a number of upsets on the pitch so far with Algeria, winners of the last tournament, already knocked out after a dismal group stage. Three-time champions Nigeria exited in the round of 16, while Ghana, champions already on four occasions, failed to win a match and never got out of their group.

The hosts Cameroon are through to the quarter finals, and are looking to claim their sixth title. As this infographic shows though, that would still leave Egypt in front in the overall standings, although the most recent of their seven victories came back in 2010. If a Mo Salah-captained Egypt are to get their name back on the trophy they still have a lot of work to do: Next up is the Ivory Coast, a team also looking to add another championship to their current tally of two.

The Most Successful Countries at the Africa Cup of Nations