SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
After a difficult start in the group games, leading sports spread betting company Sporting Index bounced back in the knockout stages and ended up well ahead of punters on this summer’s World Cup.
Generally speaking, Sporting Index do well when there are low-scoring games, so the first round of group matches, with an average of 3.06 goals per game, left the firm firmly behind the eight ball.
But as the tournament progressed, and the games became cagier, the profits started rolling in. A record total of ten goalless draws was a dream scenario on the Sporting Index trading floor, but the biggest win of the competition surprisingly came when Argentina only managed to beat Iran 1-0.
Last night’s final couldn’t have gone any better and was the icing on the cake for the firm, who had big long-term positions against France on the Outright Index and players such as Neymar, Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema in the race for the Golden Boot.
The one market where Sporting Index were wide of the mark was yellow cards. The prediction pre-tournament was 275 but, with the referees being especially lenient, a final total of 172 meant sellers (those that had bet lower) made over 100 times their stake.
Sporting Index’s Wayne Lincoln said: “We couldn’t have hoped to come out so far in front after the goals were flying in left, right and centre in the group stages, but you won’t hear us complaining.
“The defences mainly bossed the knockout games and every missed chance in the final was greeted by huge cheers on our trading floor.”
