With Royal Ascot and the World Cup both in full swing, Alan Alger from bookmaker Betway is predicting a £500 million betting week.“Every four years, the collision between Royal Ascot and the World Cup results in one of the biggest betting weeks of the year but this year is extra special.” Said Alger.
England sandwich
Alger went on to explain that the timing of England’s World Cup matches in Russia will add to the windfall, saying:“With England games both kicking off and closing a week that has Royal Ascot sandwiched in between, we could be set to see around half a billion pounds bet in just seven days.”With England’s win over Tunisia, even if it was not the most comprehensive, in the bag, and Ascot having started yesterday, the next big match in Russia, for UK bookmakers at least, will be England’s next group game against Panama, who went down 3-0 to Belgium in their first game of the competition.The match takes place on Sunday, finishing off the England bookends to the week after the Tunisia game on Monday.Betway estimates £30-40 million will be wagered every day at Royal Ascot, totalling around £200 million, while the addition of the England matches at the beginning and end of the week, as well as other World Cup games, is expected, by Mr Alger at least, to take that total up as high as £500 million.
Likelihood
It may seem like an optimistic estimate from Betway, and it’s more than possible that the assumed half billion will not be reached, but with two of the biggest and most popular sporting event combining this week, it also wouldn’t be surprising to see that total surpassed by the end of the week!