Like all niche sports, badminton has benefited from the rise in live television. With more broadcasters coming online, more tournaments are being covered and the game is getting more revenue both from those TV companies and from sponsorship which is also on the increase.
Betting companies have also got involved with that sponsorship as they see opportunities to bring the game of badminton to a wider audience while building their band awareness at the same time. It’s obviously never going to compete with established sports such as football and horse racing but badminton is now getting more interest from the betting community as a whole.
What to Look For
If you’re looking for a good home for your badminton bets then the general requirements are the same here as they would be for any sport: A good mix of value and choice is important and that choice comes from the coverage that a bookmaker gives you. This isn’t the most popular market for bettors so the first point to look for is the list of betting options – are all the major events covered on the badminton calendar along with some of the minor competitions?
Choice can also come from the range of markets on offer so, along with the straight result, does the bookie in question list a good set of side bets to sit alongside it?
It’s unlikely that we will see any promotions that are specifically targeted towards the sport so the value element has to come from really strong odds in all of these available markets. With those factors, in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best bookmakers around for betting on badminton.
EnergyBet
In general, EnergyBet are a very strong bookmaker for all niche sports so this should be one of the first places to look. In terms of badminton betting, a check on a random day of the month should reveal a good choice of tournaments for both men’s and women’s events and you can pretty much expect every professional tournament to be covered.
If there is an observation then EnergyBet will rarely offer anything outside of the result betting unless we’re talking about a huge event like the World Championships or the Olympics. However, if you’re the type of punter that likes to keep things simple then the prices shown in those result markets are competitive and will stand up to any of the established brands.
10Bet
Having been established for some time now, 10Bet have made their way onto the major odds comparison sites and therefore it’s easy to see that we are getting good value for money. In badminton betting, they are often out on their own with the best prices but they will rarely, if ever, be out of step with the rest of the industry.
The choice of tournaments is perhaps a little smaller than that of EnergyBet but relatively speaking it’s still good with the main events getting coverage. 10Bet also publish an excellent welcome bonus which can be worth up to £200.00 so this is a good all-round bookie, with a nice focus on niche sports including badminton.
Paddy Power
For many of us this is the first place to come for a new sign up so it may well be that you already hold an account with Paddy Power. What you get here are excellent prices no matter what sport you like to bet on so while the welcome deal is a little smaller than that of other operators, the value is here in a long term relationship for regular punters.
Those excellent prices extend into the list of niche sports which includes badminton and overall they are why we’ve included Paddy on this schedule. They may not quote for all of the tournaments going on around the world at any specific time but when Paddy Power are involved, their prices will be hard to beat.
A small set of side markets may also be available but it’s the strong prices that make Paddy Power so appealing as a badminton-friendly bookie.
BetVision
The biggest benefit with BetVision is their range of sports. In general, this is a good place to come if you like to mix traditional sports such as football with some of the more obscure options. Chess, Beach Soccer and Netball are among the options provided and there is some seriously good coverage of badminton too.
All of the major badminton events are listed along with a good selection of some of the minor competitions. Prices stack up well against the other bookmakers on this list and while choice is the main plus point at BetVision, there is plenty of value too in those excellent prices.
SetantaBet
A bookie that often gets overlooked is SetantaBet and that’s a shame because they can be a very good addition to anyone’s portfolio of betting websites. There are a number of good reasons for that and one of these is the wide list of niche sports that the company quotes prices for.
The coverage of events is very good and when we have a major tournament on the horizon such as the Thomas Cup, the ante post markets are opened sooner than most. Prices are strong on all of those options too and if you haven’t considered SetantaBet before, this is a good all-round bookmaker who are particularly useful if you like to bet on the niche sports.
Badminton remains a so-called minority sport but serious members of the betting community know that there is value here and that profits can be made if you do proper research and understand the sport a little better.
Of course, if you are going to bet on badminton on an occasional, or even on a regular basis, you will need a good bookmaker to support you. The choice of markets needs to be a wide one and you need good prices over and over again so we think the above list will be ideal if you’re looking to get involved with badminton betting.