Bookmakers gear up for a bumper-weekend of sports

With one of the racing calendar’s most iconic fixtures taking place this weekend, bookmakers are confident that the Epsom Derby will maintain its popularity during a bumper-Saturday of sports.

Betting activity is expected to spike for the derby, as the Epsom Derby remains as the third most popular racing event – just behind Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham Festival.

Andrew Brocker, content developer for Better Collective and bettingexpert, commented: “The Epsom Derby is third only to the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup in terms of betting interest and although not quite to the same level as the Aintree showpiece, is definitely a horse racing event that cuts through to the general public and a more casual audience, generating plenty of interest from seasoned turf enthusiasts and more casual observers alike.”

TV viewing rates are set to jump in the evening for the coverage of the Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur kicks-off. Last season, BT Sport reported the largest Pay TV football audience, with 44% of all the channel’s subscribers tuning in.

Oddschecker’s Senior Product Analyst Stuart Milne revealed that the nature of having both events on the same day, will likely lead to a number of punters placing multi-sport accumulators across both racing and football.

The racing and football coverage is set to be complemented by the start of the undercard from Madison Square Garden, as Anthony Joshua looks to defend his World Heavyweight titles against Andy Ruiz Jr.

Milne added: “Even with all three events on it won’t come close to either the peak day of Cheltenham or Grand National. Epsom was our 40th highest day of bets LY and Champions League Final was our 33rd highest day while boxing from an OC perspective doesn’t attract the attention of Horse Racing or Football. With all three on the same day Saturday might break into the top 20 betting days for OC but no more than that.”

Underlining the different levels of engagement between the three events, he continued: “With a highly-engaged racing audience, the Derby will be the most popular of the three for Oddschecker.

“That would be closely followed by the Champions League final, due to the inclusion of two English Premier League teams.”

Bettingexpert, meanwhile, added that “the epic semi-finals may have gone the way of the betting public but those bad memories will have been quickly banished by bookmakers who’ll be looking ahead to Saturday night as a game which could break all kinds of records for betting interest.”