Over £1bn to be gambled as World Cup fever kicks-off (From The Northern Echo)

Over £1bn to be gambled as World Cup fever kicks-off

10:47am Wednesday 30th December 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

Betting in sport has become big business and, in 2010, it’s going to get even bigger – especially with the World Cup in South Africa to come. If you fancy a flutter, The Northern Echo has come up with some tempting prices and options to ponder.

THE FIFA World Cup will dominate the 2010 sporting calendar and William Hill predict the summer spectacular will be the first event to generate over £1bn in betting turnover.

With accessible kick-off times and England among the favourites in South Africa, the stage is set for a battle royal between punters and bookmakers.

"Every four years the World Cup sets new betting records and with the open nature of this tournament and the enormous hype building up around it, that £1billion barrier looks certain to be smashed for the first time," said Hills spokesman Graham Sharpe.

"For punters an England triumph would be the dream outcome, but for bookies that would be a multi-million pound nightmare – the worst result since Frankie Dettori nearly bankrupted the industry by riding all seven winners in one day at Ascot.

"We want to see England go very close without winning, in fact beaten in the final on a penalty shoot-out, which we make a 90/1 chance, would do us very nicely." The Three Lions are 11/2 joint second favourites alongside Brazil for overall glory, with Spain the market leaders at 9/2.

Punters can get 4/9 for any European country to lift the trophy, 9/4 a South American nation comes out on top and 16/1 at Betfred for a first African winner.

England can be backed at 15/8 with Victor Chandler to claim maximum points from their three group games against USA, Algeria and Slovenia, while Wayne Rooney is 11/4 at Boylesports to be their leading goalscorer.

Fabio Capello’s side are 6/1 with Blue Square to be knocked out on penalties at any stage and it is 11/10 at William Hill for an England player to be sent off during the tournament.

TENNIS

WHILE Andy Murray again made solid progress in 2009, with six title wins being an ATP Tour best, the glaring omission from his CV remains a Grand Slam victory.

No-one is doubting how tough it will be to break through with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal still around, but Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro have both stepped up to the next level in the last two years.

A Wimbledon semi-final loss to Andy Roddick was the nearest Murray came last term, however, and Coral are quoting the Scot at 6/4 to land any of the big four events in 2010.

Murray did, though, briefly break the Federer- Nadal four-year stranglehold on the top two places in the world rankings, reaching second spot after an August Masters triumph in Montreal.

The 22-year-old is 7/1 at Betfred to end the forthcoming season as No 1 and 13/2 to be second in the table come December.

GOLF

THE unlikely quartet of Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink and Yong-Eun Yang will go into this year’s Majors as defending champions but there is cause for optimism that Europe can provide a big four winner in 2010.

Tiger Woods’ fall from grace leaves the door definitely ajar and there is a steady line of golfers from this side of the Atlantic well placed to push on through.

Padraig Harrington ended a long barren run dating back to 1999 with two Open triumphs and a USPGA success between 2007 and 2008 and the Irishman is 5/1 favourite with William Hill to be the next European to land a Major.

But then we have rising star Rory McIlroy and Race to Dubai champion Lee Westwood on 6/1, while Sergio Garcia has been placed on several occasions and is 10/1 for this market alongside Paul Casey.

Of course, any success at the Augusta Masters in April, the US Open at Pebble Beach in June, our Open at St Andrews in July or the PGA in Wisconsin in August would also boost morale ahead of October’s Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.

Europe’s run of three straight victories came to an end in Louisville last time but they are favourites at a top-priced 10/11 with Ladbrokes to regain the trophy in Wales.

F1

British Formula One fans have had a fantastic couple of years but all of their eggs will be in one basket after current drivers’ champion Jenson Button joined 2008 title winner Lewis Hamilton at the Woking-based McLaren team.

Button stole a march on the rest of the field with six victories in the first seven grands prix last term as his Brawn camp cleverly exploited a few technical loopholes.

However, by the end of the season he was limping over the line as Hamilton hinted at much better things to come with four pole positions in the final seven races.

So the switch looks a wise move for Button and Blue Square are offering 7/2 that he and Hamilton finish first and second in any order in the 2010 championship standings, while it is 11/8 for either to give England a title hattrick.

CRICKET

THE clamour for more and more Twenty20 cricket sees another World Cup in 2010, with the sport’s new cashcow moving to the Caribbean.

England disappointed on home soil in the second staging of this event and, despite an improvement in their limited-overs form since then, Stan James are happy to lay 12/1 they come out on top in Barbados on May 16.

On the domestic front, Durham are clear favourites to claim a third straight County Championship title and Ladbrokes fear they may be made to pay for offering a top-priced 2/1 the hat-trick is landed.

"The turnaround at Durham in the past decade is one of sport’s great success stories," said Ladbrokes spokesman David Williams. "They have the youth, talent and now the vital winning experience to seal an historic treble."

BOXING

CASTING aside our British bias, one scheduled fight for 2010 stands head and shoulders above the rest – Floyd Mayweather Jr versus Manny Pacquiao on March 13.

The two best pound-forpound boxers on the planet are set to go toe-to-toe in a clash that will no doubt shatter box office and betting records alike.

Despite only one outing in the last two years, Mayweather is a firm favourite with most bookmakers, but bet365 are looking to take on the American by offering a stand-out 8/11.

"It’s a mouth-watering fight but we think Pacquiao will be too quick and throw too many punches for Mayweather to handle," said spokesman Steve Freeth.

David Haye is a hot favourite to successfully defend his newly-acquired WBA heavyweight crown against John Ruiz around April but sportingbet are offering 2/1 he then adds another major belt to his trophy cabinet.

That would almost certainly involve beating one of the mighty Klitschko brothers – with Vitali holding the WBC title and Wladimir in control of the IBF and WBO gongs.

RUGBY UNION

IRELAND’S golden generation finally delivered the goods in last season’s Six Nations and they will go into the 2010 championship seeking to become the first team to claim successive Grand Slams since Italy were introduced.

Their fixture list looks a little more daunting this time, with Italy at home on February 6 followed by trips to France and England.

But Munster and Leinster have dominated the Heineken Cup in recent years and a number of their stars shone for the Lions in South Africa, so travel sickness should not be a problem.

Irish firm Boylesports predictably took a big hit as Brian O’Driscoll and Co hit the jackpot last time, but they are offering a tempting 6/1 for a repeat five-timer for the men in green.

"It was a tremendous result for the whole country when Ireland won the Grand Slam for the first time in 61 years, but we certainly got our fingers burnt," said spokesman Leon Blanche.

"It cost us over 1.5million euros and we’ll be looking at even more if they do it again this time around." France are 7/4 favourites to top the Six Nations table, though, with Ireland 5/2, Wales 7/2, England 9/2, Scotland 22/1 and Italy 250/1.