Premier League Bet Volume Increases on Opening Weekend

Punters place more bets, although the value drops when compared to 2015 opening weekend.

The opening weekend of the 2016/2017 Premier League campaign has attracted a great deal of attention among both the regular football fans and sports bettors, with the latter jumping at the opportunity to bet on Premiership matches after a three-month break.

Payment processing company Worldpay has revealed that there was a 20 percent increase in the number of wagers placed on Matchday 1 of the new Premiership season, when compared to the 2015/2016 campaign, as the fans clearly hoped to land some bumper payouts early into the season.

After Leicester City shocked the football world to win the coveted title last season, the punters appear to have become more cautious as the average bet value decreased 8%, while they also seem more inclined to backing the underdogs after the Foxes puled off a major coup last term.

Punters Backing the Underdogs

Staking £3.55 less per single bet than in 2015, the bettors were clearly backing the long shots at high odds, hoping they will secure big wins without risking too much money, but it was not disclosed how successful they were on the opening weekend.

Gameweek 1 of the 2016/2017 English Premier League saw Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all record victories, while Liverpool beat Arsenal at the Emirates in a 4-3 thriller.

Newly promoted sides had mixed success as Hull City defeated champions Leicester City, Middlesbrough played out a 1-1 draw with Stoke City and Burnley were beaten at home by Swansea.

With an average £38.65 deposited per transaction on the opening day of the Premier League campaign, punters were clearly eager to check whether they can predict the winners and secure nice returns early on, but with English Premiership one of the least predictable leagues in Europe, especially in the opening exchanges, we don’t think they had too much success.