What Is a Good ROI in Sports Betting?

Anyone who takes betting seriously keeps ROI in mind. You would not simply keep betting money on the teams and players you like if you are not making any money. The purpose of betting is not to support your teams and players -- it's to make money.

However, calculating ROI on sports bets becomes much more complex. When you are investing in stocks, you have a whole host of data and historical patterns to work with. There's nothing comparable in sports bets, which makes calculating ROI more difficult but also more important.

What is ROI in sports betting?

ROI in sports betting refers to a projected percentage or amount of money you would get from sports bets. If you are spending £1000 a year on sports bets, you should expect to make anywhere from £100 to £200 in returns. Anything more than 20% is unlikely in the long run. Even any returns of more than 10% are unlikely for most sports bettors.

Calculating ROI in percentage is very different from calculating ROI in hard numbers. ROI in hard numbers varies from person to person. If you spend £1000 every month on sports bets instead of every year, you can expect to make more than £1000 in returns in a year.

But not everyone is in a position to spend £1000 every month on betting, and neither should everyone do it. You must always stake an amount that you are comfortable losing. Since sports betting ROIs are very unpredictable, you cannot rely on them for income the way you do for stocks and mutual funds.

What is considered a good ROI?

In sports betting, 5% per annum is largely considered a good ROI. Anything more than that is a great ROI for sports betting. For some people, even a 3% to 4% ROI on sports betting is a great ROI.

While there are market standards on what counts as a good ROI, it boils down to you. If you are a hobbyist who bets only on select tournaments and events, a 5% ROI may not be significant for you. If you are investing less than £1000 a year in betting, even a 10% ROI would give you less than £100. But if you are investing £100,000 a year in sports bets, a 5% return means £5000 in returns.

While that may not make you a professional sports bettor, it is a sizeable amount that would have an impact on your life. At the same time, not everyone can or is willing to put in £100,000 a year in sports bets. How you define a good ROI depends on you and your specific circumstances.

Calculating Betting ROI

Calculating specific ROI for sports bets can be quite tricky. Let's take a fictional example to figure out how it is done:

Suppose you're placing a wager on Manchester United to defeat Aston Villa in their next game. These are two of the top teams in the English Premier League, with Manchester United performing well relative to the opposition.

Let's make some hypothetical odds and examine how ROI calculations work if you're trying to make money from a stake in this game:

·      1.50 for Manchester United

·      Draw, 2.50

·      3.5 for Aston Villa

Now let us run some ROI analyses based on various betting possibilities:

Case 1: If you wager £100 that Manchester United will defeat Aston Villa, you will receive the following payout:

£100 bet times 1.50 odds equals £150. A profit of £50 is equal to the initial wager of £100.

Case 2: If you wager £100 that Aston Villa will defeat Manchester United, you will receive the following payout:

Bet of £100 times 3.50 odds equals £350. Profit of $250 less than the original wager of £100.

Case 3: If you stake £100 on Manchester United and Aston Villa drawing, you will receive the following payout:

£100 bet times 2.50 odds equals £250. Profit of £150 minus the initial wager of £100.

As you can see, depending on the result of the game, your £100 wager could accomplish a variety of things for each case. The estimated profits assuming you bet for Manchester United to win are £50. Your projected profits when you bet on Aston Villa winning are £250. Your estimated profit if you wager on a draw is £150. The odds always provide a clear indicator of what is most likely to happen.

Note that the above calculations are for illustrative purposes only. It would not always work out the same way since too many factors go into determining the odds and the outcomes of a football match.

Is it important to calculate ROI in sports betting?

Yes, it's important to calculate ROI in sports betting. The argument against calculating ROI depends on two false ideas:

·      Calculating ROI on sports bets is futile -- you cannot ever be accurate

·      It's unnecessary and adds a burden on bettors

For the first argument, there is some truth. But there's no truth to the second argument. If you are even somewhat serious about betting, you should calculate an ROI. It will only make your betting experience better while increasing your chances of not losing money.

As far as calculations are concerned, it is indeed difficult to be precise with sports bets ROI. While you may not arrive at a specific number, you still get a rough idea of how much you can make from your bets.

Conclusion

ROI and sports betting have a long history and a lot of debates. While some deem it unnecessary, most serious bettors agree on having at least a rough ROI projection. We hope these tips and ideas will help you calculate ROI in sports bets and come up with a suitable ROI for yourself.