The huge handles and massive profits from football season are still a few weeks away for U.S. sports betting operators, but a popular soccer league gets underway on Friday.
The English Premier League kicks off its 2024-2025 campaign Friday with Manchester United and Fulham before a mid-August weekend full of betting options.
“In general, the Premier League is the most bet soccer league,” BetMGM data analyst John Ewing told Covers. “It draws good action from bettors as it has a favored viewing time (weekend mornings) that leads directly into American football.”
Friday is the last chance to get in on the futures markets before points are awarded, and U.S. sportsbooks are seeing some telling numbers about what kind of season it could be in the Premier League.
Battle of the best
One of the most intriguing is the Premier League winner market.
Will anybody finally dethrone Manchester City, which has won four consecutive EPL titles and six of the last seven?
The Citizens opened as a +100 favorite to do it again and have since moved to +150 at BetMGM. Man City is seeing 18.2% of the tickets and 26.4% of the money, most of any Premier League team.
Odds to win the @premierleague at #BetMGM
— John Ewing (@johnewing) August 13, 2024
Man City +150
Arsenal +165
Liverpool +650
Chelsea +1600
Man United +2000
Tottenham +2000
Newcastle +3300
Aston Villa +5000
All other teams +15000 or longer odds
26% of money (most) is on @ManCity to win. pic.twitter.com/It4IlRmCZi
Arsenal, which fell just short of winning it last season, is listed second with 16.4% of the wagers and 21.9% of the handle.
According to numbers provided by ESPN BET, the online sportsbook is seeing the reverse. The Gunners are getting 29% of the bets and a whopping 54% of the handle while just 8% of the money is on Man City.
DraftKings, which has Arsenal at +170 behind Man City’s +140, is a little more split. The online sportsbook told Covers that 37% of the money is on the Gunners, but 49% of the wagers are on the Citizens.
The other guys
No other EPL team is seeing more than 5% of the bets at DraftKings.
At +650, Liverpool is getting 13% of the money while Man United is at 12%.
Those two clubs and Chelsea are in ESPN BET’s top five most-bet teams.
At BetMGM, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Bournemouth, and Brentford, all listed +50,000, are receiving less than 1% each of the tickets.
A few more bettors are taking flyers on fellow +50,000 longshots Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City, which are getting slightly less than 2% of the wagers, while West Ham United has the highest odds (+20,000) mixed with the most tickets (2.4%).
Betting on failure
Premier League futures don’t just offer bettors the chance to capitalize on success. They can also take a shot at failure with the relegation market.
At the end of each campaign, the bottom three teams in the 20-club EPL are sent to the English Football League Championship for the following season.
Ironically, the same team favored to win the Premier League is the most-wagered to be one of the worst three, thanks to enticing odds.
BetMGM lists Man City at +1,000 to be relegated, and a league-high 24.2% of the bets are on the reigning champs to be sent packing.
However, more of the handle (33.7%) is on Ipswich Town, which moved up to EPL for this season. Fulham at +550 is getting 11.3% of the tickets and 15.8% of the money.
Take the shot
Another popular season-long market is for the winner of the Golden Boot, the Premier League’s award for the top goal scorer.
It’s no surprise that Man City’s Erling Haaland, the last two years’ recipient, is a -155 favorite at DraftKings. He’s getting a leading 25% of the handle, but Newcastle’s Alexander Isak at 25% of the bets is ahead of Haaland’s 19%.
Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer are the only other two players getting at least 10% of the money and wagers for the top goal scorer.
Isak and Palmer are tied for first with 17% of the tickets at ESPN BET while Haaland, who’s right behind them at 15% of the wagers, is getting 58% of the handle.
