Sports Betting Firms Curse Lack Of Football Draws

Lack of draws in the Premier League is bad news for sports betting operators.

An unprecedented lack of draws in this season's Premier League football action has left many sports betting operators facing a slump in earnings, it has emerged.

Ladbrokes has reported a 15 per cent decline in its net revenue for the three-month period to September 30th, with most of the blame placed on "an exceptionally low football margin".

Only six per cent of Premier League matches (four out of 66 fixtures) have been drawn so far this year, compared with an average of 25 per cent for the last five seasons.

Commenting on this development, Ladbrokes chief executive Chris Bell told the Times: "In the 17 years since the Premiership started, the number of draws has never been less than 20 per cent."

The draw is the bookmaker's favourite result because it is often ignored by punters, but games finishing all-square have been few and far between in the top flight this season.

Mr Bell told the newspaper that Ladbrokes lost about £20 million on football betting in the third quarter of 2009.

The bookmaker has confirmed plans to use a rights issue to raise £275 million, which will be used to reduce its debt mountain.