F1 gambling tipped to surge as bookies hope for closer title races

F1
- Last updated: September 22nd 2022

After years of blocking betting firms, Formula 1 has opened the doors to gambling partnerships, with a rise in F1 wagering expected

Carlos Sainz drives past the Monte Carlo Casino in F1 qualifying for the Monaco GP

Sainz felt he had a shot for pole — until Perez's crash

Paulo Maria / DPPI

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Gambling comes naturally to a Formula 1 driver with taking risks an occupational hazard when you are pushing a 1000bhp monster of a machine to its very limits.

And yet, for the majority of its existence, gambling has been a dirty word in F1 with the betting industry barred from the paddock.

Zipping past the Monte Carlo casino once per season, a bizarre three-year stint in the 1980s racing in the car park of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and the occasional poker appearance by card sharks Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso were as close as gambling and F1 got for decades.

Under his 40-year stewardship, former owner Bernie Ecclestone kept the door tightly closed, believing the glamorous image of the sport would be tarnished if betting firms were allowed in.

Having been happy to allow the tobacco trade, alcoholic drinks and even adult magazine sponsors to be splashed all over his cars during his tenure, Ecclestone drew the line at betting, a line that has since been scrubbed out by F1’s new custodians, Liberty Media.

Formula 1 took the initial steps towards introducing gambling to race fans in 2018 when signing a $100million deal with sports marketing company Interregional Sports Group (ISG), granting them a license to sell on-screen and trackside advertising space to the gambling industry.

The bar was raised again in 2020 when it was confirmed 188Bet had been made an official F1 betting partner in Asia, with ISG then negotiating a deal for PokerStars to become its principal EU gambling consort.

A betting partnership with F1 makes sense: both industries are trying to crack America

The reaction to F1’s burgeoning relationship with betting has been mixed, being branded in some quarters as a step backwards by a sport trying to be viewed as progressive.

A tie-up with betting may raise some ethical questions but from a financial standpoint, a relationship is a no-brainer given F1’s eagerness to explore revenue streams.

Betting is big business and it’s only getting bigger. A 2022 Business Research Company report has predicted that the sports betting market size will grow from $89.65 billion in 2021 to $99.20 billion in 2022, ballooning to $144.34 billion in 2026.

A lot of that growth will come in Asia and the United States, with the latter having mirrored F1 in shutting out sporting betting until recently.

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Gambling, in some form, is now legal in 30 States and a partnership with Formula 1 would make sense at a time when both industries are trying to crack the American market.

Next year’s return of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will thankfully graduate from the Caesars’ car park to Vegas’ Strip, home to the majority of the big-brand casinos, could be used to strengthen any formative bonds between the two parties.

From a bettor’s perspective, wagering on F1 is becoming increasingly popular, with an increasing number of options on the best sportsbooks, even tempting the likes of superstar musician Drake to dip his toe in the water.

The Canadian may not be rushing back after losing over $230,000 on the outcome of this year’s Spanish Grand Prix but the number of ordinary race fans happy to have a regular punt has risen in recent years.

A competitive title race in 2021 certainly helped peak interest, while Liberty Media’s improved presentation of the sport has been another driving force behind the rise.

Paul Steele, an F1 trader for bet365, one of the UK’s biggest online bookmakers, told Motor Sport: “We have seen a rise in turnover in the last few years thanks in part to F1 TV coverage being excellent and I would suggest the Drive to Survive series on Netflix may also have something to do with the rise in popularity.

“The main markets have always been popular, but the vast array of props that we do for each race (currently over 80) as well as a huge number of boosts, have also caught the customers’ attention.”

From a business perspective, Steele is keeping his fingers crossed Red Bull’s current domination won’t extend beyond this season, while he’s hopeful a closer relationship between F1 and the betting industry might result in bookmakers being able to offer bettors an even greater selection of markets in the future.

“Clearly, we’d like the Outright market to be more competitive with [Max] Verstappen going off short these days,” he added. “From a personal point of view, I’d like more data to be released so we could offer even more markets.”

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