Scientific Games sees record betting volume at Grand National

Added: April 13, 2021

Scientific Games and Smarkets have both revealed that they saw record levels of sports betting during the United Kingdom’s Grand National Festival 2021 event on both of their platforms.

The event took place between April 7th and 9th, and saw Rachel Blackmore as the first ever female jockey to win the main race on Minella Times. Last year’s edition of the Grand National had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions.

Scientific Games claimed that there were over 50 million bets placed on its platform during this time, as 19 million of them were on the main race, which was a 60.5% boost from the last time the race was held back in 2019.

Moreover, the firm mentioned that one of its OpenSports clients processed over 57,000 bets per minute, which is a record breaking number as well as being a huge 128% increase from 2019. Total transactions throughout the event had increased by 55%. All of the OpenSports customers said they witnessed increases in betting volume, including Betfair, Coral, Ladbrokes and William Hill.

Jordan Levin, group chief executive at Scientific Games, stated:

“Over the last three years, teams across SG Digital have transformed our OpenSports technology to meet the demands of the world’s leading operators. Whether it’s the Grand National, the Big Game or the Melbourne Cup, we have a responsibility to the largest sportsbooks in every corner of the world to deliver on our promises and exceed their expectations.”

In the meantime, Smarkets also broke a record when it comes to betting volume as it recorded £92.8 million being traded across its two platforms, which is a 21% increase from 2019’s event. The main race made up about 71% of the total volume, as there was £131 million traded on these races during the three days in which the event was held.

Jason Trost, chief executive and founder of Smarkets, also noted:

“After a record-breaking Cheltenham Festival for the company, to have set a new all-time high for betting volume on a single event is another big milestone for us. The growth of both our products, but especially SBK, has been phenomenal recently. We have a lot of momentum as a business right now, and with a summer football tournament one of several big events coming up, I’m excited for the next few months.”

Grand National Festival, Scientific Games, Smarkets