Off Shore Gaming Association

A funny thing happened on the way to the sportsbook this week. I got excited about soccer, err . . . futbol. And it wasn’t because of the dramatic U.S. victory in the 91st minute. It was because the sportsbook I was headed to was not in Las Vegas, but in Latin America. Apparently, this World Cup thing is HUGE in the rest of the world.

From the moment I got off the plane in Panama, there were signs of the World Cup. People from all walks of life were wearing jerseys from soccer teams around the world. Brazil and Spain appeared to be very popular ones smattered with England, Mexico and Portugal. On the way to the airport, I asked the taxi driver about World Cup fever.

“Oh Ches. De World Cup is berry big down here.” But, Panama does not have a team in the tournament, I remarked. “Every body picks dare team or where dare grandfadders and modders come from”, I was told. Apparently, his team is Brazil, which looks like a solid pick.

Upon arriving at the hotel, all of the employees were all wearing the same colored shirt – orange – for the Dutch squad. Apparently, the parent company that owns the hotel is Dutch. Then it’s off to the hotel bar, where four extra 40 inch flat screens were sitting on tables for all to watch. As one English-speaking local told me, “At my little local bar, there are 6 brand-new plasmas. It’s not that big a place, it’s like there is plasma overload in there.”

On one trip around Panama City in the afternoon, I noticed far less traffic in what is normally a congested area. I was told by that taxi driver that, “everyone is watching futbol.” So, with all of this, and the next several days of soccer, soccer and more soccer, I have been converted. A 0-0 tie really can be exciting. And watching the English bemoan their team and the French cry in their wine, the World Cup has become quite exciting for this American.

And, I am not the only one. Handle is up throughout Latin America and Caribbean sportsbooks. Industry giant Bodog told us that, “We are seeing great action through the first matches of the World Cup. The handle is comparable to an NFL Sunday regular season game.” Sill, 5Dimes is seeing even more wagers than that! “Action is about double what we expected. We expected similar action to a typical NFL Monday night football game. We’re getting double that”, the top man at 5D told us.

One reason for the exceptional handle might be in the outcomes of some of the early games where a number of soccer ‘giants’ went down. 5Dimes added that “this World Cup has exceeded expectations to this point.” And this is only destined to increase.

The belief offshore (and a valid one) is that the handle in the next round will even larger, as bettors get a better grasp on who is playing well, Bodog expects the 2nd round wagering to be “comparable to an NFL first round playoff game.”

Of course, some games will get more bets then others depending on the teams playing, just like in the NFL. But powerhouse countries like Spain, Brazil and Germany will see a good deal of action. And of course, for sportsbooks that service the American market, they can expect to see a ton of bets on the U.S. But, book who have an international clientele, like Bodog, with Canadian, European and South American clients, will get wagers on both teams and thus balance the action.

So have American bettors embraced the World Cup? Yes, is the definitive answer. And for books that take U.S. bets, with clients who have new affinity for soccer betting, GOOOAAAL is the word of the month.

On a side note, in the U.S. the ESPN announcers really do not do the sport justice. International commentators really get into the match. You can have a beer in your hand, turned away from the bar, and hear when it is time to watch the flat screen. The excitement builds in the announcer and the viewers, all waiting to hear the afore mentioned scream of GOOOAAAL! Great stuff, but not on a TV set in America.

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The biggest betting event of the year is underway – the FIFA World Cup. And the first round saw nothing that would sway a savvy bettor except for Wednesday’s shocker in which Spain lost to Switzerland, 1-0. Soccer is hands-down the biggest sport in the world and the huge action taken already by the Ladbrokes and Paddy Powers of the world has already been well documented. But, surprisingly, every book we spoke to in the Caribbean and Central America is also seeing a lot of action, not only from their existing customer base, but from new bettors as well.

BetED, based in Costa Rica told us that “From the initial figures the turnover has exceeded even our highest expectations based on historical data.” Throughout Costa Rica books are experiencing high volume and U.S. facing books are seeing an interesting phenomenon. Though teams like the U.S., England and Germany expect to draw large handle, “the World Cup is the only international tournament where your roots mean more than your birthplace/citizenship”, added BetED’s senior sportsbook manager. Apparently, throughout North America, players are betting with their heritage and teams like Italy, Brazil, Argentina and Spain also have a large amount for futures for winning the Cup.

We also have heard the ‘live’ betting or ‘in-game’ betting has been a big draw. BetED mentioned that the “highest growth we have seen is in our World Cup InPlay” (their brand of live betting). Not surprising from U.S.-based players who can bet on quarters in basketball, first 5-innings in baseball and instant-gratifying props galore during the NFL season.

As expected, the Spain upset proved profitable offshore. WagerWeb commented, “obviously the match with Spain vs Switzerland was a HUGE decision for us.” The 1-0 upset for the Swiss has been the biggest shocker so far. Not to mention that the inordinate amount of ties and low scoring in the first several days of competition also increased bettors woes. The biggest match on the board so far ended in a bookies dream decision. When the U.S./England match ended in a tie, offshore operators were dancing in the street. Surprisingly, BetED and several other books had a large decision fall their way when the host country South Africa drew against Mexico, who were the favorites going into the match.

However, the tournament has not been all peaches and cream for the bookmakers. Sportsbooks across the board got hammered in the Germany vs. Australia match. The spread was between -1.0 and -0.5,-1.0 goals while the action was all on Germany. The emphatic 4-0 win took much of the profits made in early matches off of the table.

It looks like we finally will get to see some scoring and most likely some increased action as the weaker teams get weeded out. Every sportsbook we spoke to expects to see increased handle as the competition becomes better and the odds grow tighter. If some of the more powerful teams like England and Spain can get back into form, bettors can expect a wild ride in what has been a muddled start to the World Cup.

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