UEFA Euro 2024 has recorded the highest betting margins among prominent football tournaments this year, surpassing the UEFA Champions League 2024 by nine percentage points, as unveiled by iGaming solutions provider SOFTSWISS.
According to insights shared by the team of sports betting software SOFTSWISS Sportsbook, the tournament has a betting margin of 17.3%. Key categories such as match winners and total goals scored have shown significant activity, with the latter carrying a margin of 15.5%.
“This suggests that bettors are primarily interested in straightforward, outcome-based wagers and performance-based metrics. These markets are likely attractive to bettors because they are simple and easy to understand. However, despite their straightforward nature, the high margins indicate that predicting the outcomes can be challenging.” Alexander Kamenetskiy, Head of SOFTSWISS Sportsbook, said.
The top five margin matches so far have been:
- Netherlands vs France
- Belgium vs Slovakia
- Austria vs France
- Denmark vs England
- Netherlands vs Austria
Interestingly, three of these matches also ranked among the top five by the number of bets:
- Austria vs France
- Netherlands vs France
- Germany vs Hungary
- Spain vs Italy
- Belgium vs Slovakia
This suggests these fixtures had high public interest, likely due to the popularity of the teams, star players, or historical rivalries.
Most bets (77%) are placed via mobile devices, indicating a strong preference for mobile betting among users and confirming the trend toward smartphones and tablets.
Combo bets account for 40% of all bets but have a margin four times higher than single bets. Despite the average single bet being twice the amount of a combo bet, the higher margin on combo bets makes them crucial for profitability.
“The difference between tournaments of this level and others is the high number of new players, who bet only on the Euro and then stop until the World Cup. That is why operators carefully design their intro bonus programs to show new players all the available features. Since combo bets have higher margins, encouraging them through special offers or loyalty rewards could be very profitable,” Kamenetskiy said.
In other recent developments for the SOFTSWISS Sportsbook, the team has recently launched its mobile application on the Serbian Google Play and App Store. Additionally, SOFTSWISS has introduced a free resource for businesses planning to start a sports betting venture – the Sportsbook Budget Calculator.