How much the bookies keep on a football bet vs other sports

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How much the bookies keep on a football bet vs other sports

Postby BetBetter » Thu Nov 12, 2026 7:36 am

Bit of data for anyone who has the odd bet on the football. We measured the built-in margin on 69.6 million betting markets from 53 bookmakers (UK, Europe, US and Australia), July to September 2026.

Average margin by market type:
  • Two-way (no draw): 4.8%
  • Over / under: 6.4%
  • Three-way (home / draw / away): 7.5%
  • Player stats: 7.6%

So a standard football home / draw / away market costs about 2.7 points more than a tennis or NBA match bet, just because the draw adds a third outcome for the bookie to load.

In pounds: on £100 of otherwise fair bets, a 4.8% margin costs about £4.58 and a 7.5% margin about £6.98.

Check any match yourself: 1 divided by each decimal price, add them up, see how far past 100% it goes. Home 2.30, draw 3.30, away 3.10 = 43.5% + 30.3% + 32.3% = 106%, so a 6% margin.

Full tables by sport: https://betbetter.world/studies/state-of-the-vig-2026
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