Most Popular Sports in the UK to Bet On

football ball Not everyone likes sports, but they’re a cultural feature in most countries, and the United Kingdom is definitely no exception. While Football is known to be the most popular sports in the UK to bet on, there are many other sports that fans can enjoy and place wagers on.

What Are the Best Sports in the UK to Bet On?

We’ve created a list of the six most popular sports in the UK you can easily bet on almost any time of the year. Let’s dive into it.

Golf

Even though golf may not be the most popular sport in the UK, it started in this country and is one of the most popular sports amongst wagerer. There’s almost always a tournament taking place, so there’s usually something to bet on.

Although it might not be as action-packed as other sports, there are still plenty of exciting and lucrative markets that you might find worth placing a bet on. An example of this is an outright winner bet, in which you pick the person you think will win the tournament. You can also find many over/under and favourite/underdog bets.

Pros:

Golf is a year-round sport, so you’ll never run out of championships to bet on.
There are many different betting opportunities in many markets.
Even though tournaments are lengthy, you don’t have to be the sport to understand it.

Cons:

It isn’t as exciting as other sports.
Tournaments can last several days, so you might lose interest quickly.

Football

Believe it or not, people played football in the UK as far back as the Middle Ages. Of course, there were some differences, but it’s impressive that the game has increased in popularity throughout the centuries.

Today, football is definitely the most popular sport in the United Kingdom, and it might be the most popular sport in the world. It is also a highly popular option among wagerers as it can be seen on sports spread betting sites 2021. With thousands of professional teams worldwide, football has nearly 3.3 billion fans, which is about 42% of the global population. There are football matches and markets available for fans to bet on every week in the UK.

Pros:

Its popularity ensures the availability of markets and betting types; there’s always something to bet on.
There’s a massive number of international teams and tournaments to bet on.
The games themselves are exciting.
If you gamble online, most websites offer live betting.

Cons:

If you bet online, some international websites call it soccer, so it might be confusing.

Horse Racing

With an annual attendance figure of about six million people and more than 13,000 races, horse racing is easily one of the most popular sports in the United Kingdom. It has a long history with the royalty of Britain, and it’s one of the most popular sports in the UK to bet on, which isn’t likely to change.

In the UK there are two different types of horse racing, which are National Hunt and flat racing, both of which involve distinct aspects. National Hunt features in the winter months, and it consists of jumping over hurdles. Flat racing is probably the form that most people are familiar with. It’s when horses race around a course and compete for first place.

Pros:

It’s incredibly easy to bet on horse racing.
There are many different betting types available to punters.
Most online sportsbooks offer online betting for horse racing because of how popular it is.
The stakes are usually pretty high, so you can win a decent amount compared to other sports.
Horse racing is pretty easy to understand and start betting.

Cons:

You can lose a lot of money quickly with multiple races in a day.
Because it’s so popular, the odds aren’t always appealing.

Tennis

Tennis is another popular sport in the United Kingdom, with one of the most prestigious tennis events taking place each year in London at the All England Club in Wimbledon. The Wimbledon Championships is one of tennis’ four grand slams, the others being the French Open, the US Open and the Australian Open.

Like horse racing, tennis also has a very long history in the UK and dates back hundreds of years. Believe it or not, the first tennis club was in the UK, and the first World Tennis Championship at Wimbledon.

Many consider tennis to be primarily an individual sport, it’s both an individual and team sport. Tournaments include both singles and doubles, and the season is quite long compared to other sports. It starts in January and ends in November. There’s a lot of time to bet on tennis matches.

Pros:

The season is very long, so you have a lot of time to bet.
Because of its popularity, many sportsbooks offer tennis betting, including international games and championships.

Cons:

Not all tennis tournaments may be available on all bookmakers.

Cricket

Cricket is the national sport of England, so it ranks very highly on the list of popular sports. It is also known to be among the most popular sports in the UK to bet on. Although we can trace most modern rules of cricket back to the 1700s, the earliest record of the sport actually comes from the 13th century.

Now, there are hundreds of clubs and thousands of teams across the United Kingdom. In club sports like cricket, multiple teams make up a club.

In the UK, the majority of the 18 professional teams come from England. Every summer, the clubs compete in the County Championship, which consists of two leagues, and the matches last for four days.

Despite the sport being the national game of England, England doesn’t represent only itself. It has a joint team with Wales and competes internationally. Scotland and Ireland have their own cricket teams, but it isn’t as popular as it is in Wales and England.

Pros:

Many competitions are available to UK punters, including internationals.
Placing bets is straightforward and easy, especially if you’re betting online.
You can usually bet live.
Because the match-ups during games and innings change so frequently, there are many odds to bet on.

Cons:

Although cricket is prominent in many countries, UK bookmakers might not list all the leagues from outside Britain.

Conclusion

There are many different sports you might want to bet on, but these are some of the more popular sports in the UK to bet on. These sports have a long history in the UK, and some of them have long seasons. They’re great options for betting, even if you’re new to it.