SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Tonight’s series finale of Love Island is the culmination of a series that has engaged punters in record breaking numbers.
During its two-month run, Love Island has enthralled the nation and it appears that British gamblers weren’t immune to fanaticism about this summer’s reality TV showpiece.
Paddy Power’s Lee Price said: “It’s a record-breaking year for Love Island betting. We’ve taken more than ten times the number of bets compared to last year, with Brits staking tens of thousands on our various Love Island markets.”
Kem and Amber are the current odds-on favourites to win the show, with Chris and Olivia 3/1 second favourites, Jamie and Camilla closely following them and former favourites Marcel and Gabby now as 18/1 outsiders.
“The most active market has been the ‘winning male’ bet – with Chris, surprisingly, the punters’ most popular choice.” Price added: “The most popular individual bet is on Camilla to win the show. It’s streets ahead of Big Brother with our punters, attracting five times the number of bets.”
The increased level of bets on Love Island is indicative of the growth of betting popularity on reality TV, Jess Bridge of Ladbrokes said: “Reality TV betting is huge and continues to grow year-on-year. It is no longer a niche or a novelty bet, in fact I think the latter is a disservice to TV betting.”
The market for TV betting this summer has been incredibly competitive, with both Big Brother and Love Island airing simultaneously, Bridge said that at Ladbrokes: “There’s been more wagers and money placed on Big Brother, but it’s on the screens for much longer and has an incredibly loyal fan base.”
Bridge added: “Once Love Island fans realised they could place bets on the winner we saw over 10,000 bets in the first few days. If Love Island and Big Brother are to clash again next summer, we reckon Love Island would comfortably overtake Big Brother’s turnover.”
