Leicester City winning Premier League title is bad news for bookmakers profits
The betting industry is looking at huge losses if the biggest surprise in footballing history is achieved in the coming weeks by the Foxes.
The bookmaking industry faces its biggest loss in Premier League history with Leicester City just one win away from clinching a shock first title, major bookmaker William Hill said on Tuesday.
So unexpected was their title chase that William Hill had quoted Leicester as 5,000-1 outsiders at the start of the season. Now the loss to bookmakers stands at some 10 million pounds ($14.55 million), William Hill said in a statement. A man from Guildford, England stands to earn the highest individual payout after he wagered 75 pounds at 1,500-1 just a few weeks into the campaign, it said. He has not cashed out and so now stands to win 112,500 pounds.
In total, William Hill face a final payout of a little over three million pounds if Leicester beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday. "We stand to lose a small fortune if Leicester do what everybody must now be expecting them to do. 5,000-1 is the biggest priced winner in betting history!" William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly said.