Betting on Sports webinar begins with Rare Breed - Betting on Politics

(PRESS RELEASE) -- SBC’s new fortnightly Betting on Sports webinar series opens on Wednesday, 10 July 2019 with Rare Breed - Betting on Politics, which will see an expert panel assessing how to price what many consider betting’s last authentic trading market.

In a world of the Brexit, Trump and Scott Morrison shocks, politics presents bookmakers with very different challenges to the increasingly automated sports betting markets. The Betting on Sports webinar panel will share their insights into political betting to give you an idea of how to approach those challenges.

The specially selected panel comprises:

• Sarbjit Bakhshi - Head of Politics, Smarkets
• Matt Shaddick - Head of Ladbrokes Politics
• Steve Donoughue - Owner/CEO of GamblingConsultant.co.uk

Among the issues to be discussed are how to price such an unpredictable sector, what have bookmakers learned from the seismic upsets of recent years, and can betting markets still be relied upon as relevant political indicators, judging the public’s changing attitudes?

Furthermore, how do bookmakers gauge and value political information against a reactive world influenced by gossip, rumor and scandal?

Matt Shaddick, Head of Ladbrokes Politics, said, “Political betting has been an important market over the last decade for the Ladbrokes brand and has been reaching a bigger and bigger audience, especially since the 2016 earthquakes of Brexit and Trump.

“We are confidently predicting that the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election will be the biggest non-sports betting market of all time and one which will almost certainly divide public opinion like no other."

SBC Managing Director Andrew McCarron, who will moderate the discussion, said, “Politics is an excellent proposition to kick-off our new Betting on Sports webinar series.

“In this program, we will seek to deliver a deep dive on the unique intricacies of running betting markets and businesses, so stay tuned for some great content.”

The Betting on Sports Webinar series is designed to provide operators, regulators, affiliates and payment companies with regular updates about the key issues and opportunities facing the sector, with input from experts across the industry.