Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2012 36 W hen comparing Asian and European sports bettors, there are probably more similarities than differences. The similarities are obvious; Asian and European customers love to bet on football in the major European Leagues (the Barclays Premier League is by far the most popular with both sets of players) and increasingly through ‘in-running betting’ (IRB)— but more of that later. The 1X2 market (home win/draw/away win) remains popular with both markets, and it’s still the Asian players who bet biggest—your typical European player also still prefers accumulators (or parlays) when compared to a typical Asian player. Culturally, Asians would tend to view pre-match betting as ‘betting blind’, without knowing team line-ups and formations, often preferring to see how a game unfolds before stepping in. Other differences are, perhaps, more subtle; Asian players still prefer the ‘over-under’ goals markets more than their European counterparts, although even that difference is altering, as we increasingly see more European bettors playing in these markets, frequently as an adjunct to the 1X2 market. Certainly, with recent games involving top EPL sides sharing seven, eight and even nine goals, you can see the attraction to European customers increasingly wanting to play these markets. But the biggest single similarity of both groups remains the absolute devotion to betting in-running, and it’s certainly no exaggeration to describe this recent growth as spectacular. If we define IRB as any sports bet struck after the start of the sporting event itself, then up to 80% of all betting revenues made on the event are now ‘in-running’. Although IRB started in Asia perhaps ten years ago, when it ONEworks A Global Growth Story ONEworks™ Business Development Director Tom Hall explains the workings of in-running sports betting Lion’s share—the Barclays Premier League draws the bulk of bets from both Asian and European punters