In the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, Bet365 held an optimistic view on the overall betting performance, despite a 21.6% decline in total bets compared to the UEFA Champions League final. Data shows that 67.9% of the bets came from the UK, Spain, and Brazil, making them the largest markets for the event.
Particularly, the participation of Brazilian teams was highly attractive. Among the top ten matches in betting amounts, five featured Brazilian clubs, with the Flamengo vs. Bayern Munich match drawing the most attention. Palmeiras, although eliminated in the round of 16, appeared twice on the list.
Operators also benefited significantly from upsets. Trader Fris pointed out that the most unexpected was Boca Juniors, who at 100 to 1 odds, failed to defeat Auckland City. Additionally, a 1-1 draw between Real Madrid and Al Hilal also brought profits to Bet365.
Meanwhile, substitute players became one of the risk points for bonuses. Musiala, replacing Kane, who scored a hat-trick against Auckland, was the highest bonus player; while Palmeiras' outstanding performance in the final unexpectedly "saved" the operators from the expense of Vitinha winning the Ballon d'Or.
Although the attention was less than the Champions League, Bet365 believes that the time zone challenges and audience uncertainty were within expectations for the first event, and the overall data was satisfactory.
