by Renee Israel
Tennis betting at Betfair is one of the gaming site's most popular
markets. The UK betting exchange recently announced that revenues were up across
the board, thanks in part to heavy betting on the darling of British tennis
player, Andy Murray.
According to Betfair, punters wagered £63 million on the US Open final which
was eventually won by Murray. In fact, this year's Betfair US Open betting take
broke all of the firm's previous records on a single tennis match final.
This has been a very successful year in terms of tennis revenues at Betfair,
with more than £58 million wagered on Wimbledon in July, where Murray lost in
four sets to his arch rival, the Swiss Roger Federer.
Murray managed to regain his honour by beating Federer on the same court
during the Olympics finals, taking gold and bringing pride to British tennis.
Betting on Monday night's US Open match against Novak Djokovic, however,
proved to be the peak of betting action among Betfair's tennis fans.
Olympics Affected Betfair's Revenues
Betfair announced recently that revenues during the summer months were up 13%
to £91.6 million. These numbers were despite the fact that revenues were
affected by the Olympic games played out in London, and Betfair's top sports
events, horse racing and football, performed weaker than anticipated.
However, the negative effect of the Olympics on Betfair's revenues was offset
by the huge boost received by the bets placed by customers on the Euro 2012
football tournament.
In total, sports bets rose 21% at £72.3 million at Betfair in the three
months leading to July 31, 2012.
Tottenham's Redknapp is Betfair Brand Ambassador
Part of Betfair's success in the last three months could have to do with the
group signing on former Tottenham boss, Harry Redknapp as brand ambassador.
Redknapp offered punters tips during the Euro 2012 football tournament, which
generated a total of £7.8 million for the group.
Betfair said that the number of active customers increased by 13% to 485,000
in the three month period. Half the punters in the United Kingdom and Ireland
placed their bets with a mobile phone or tablet, according to the group.
Profits grew to £85.7 million - a 17% increase.
Betfair offers betting on multiple sports events, including football, horse
racing, cricket, golf and cycling. In addition, the Betfair platform also
includes exchange games, poker, casino, live casino, arcade and super slots.
Players can also wager on special bets such as TV shows, politics and
celebrities.
