Betfair Exchange April Newsletter: Testing under way on Asian corners and the IPL returns

• No delays on passive bets in top-tier Football 

• Cricket becomes the latest sport to adopt the passive bet tool 

• Asian corners in testing

• Football bet delay reduction and midweek accas
  

• IPL returns for 2026

No delays on passive bets in top-tier Football 

The passive bet delay tool has been gaining momentum across all levels of football on the Betfair Exchange over the past few months with constant testing of new leagues and load periods. The tool has shown positive signs across other sports on the Exchange where bets skip the delay if they aren't going to get instantly matched. Tennis matched volume was up 12% year on year in 2025. It was the first of five sports to move to full coverage in June last year. 

The aim is for football to be the next sport to hit 100% coverage. Currently comparative testing is being applied to all Odd Event IDs in all competitions other than the EPL and Champions League.  

All test events subject to bet delay tools are API signposted, so you can find a full list of added competitions via the API at any time. Follow this link here for a reminder on how to view the updated list via the API. 

Latest figures for the current testing on passive bet delays in football: 

• Over 1,700 events 
• Over £500 million matched in markets with the passive tool applied 
• 25% of football had passive bet delays enabled on the weekend of 21st March 
• 5% increase in volume in markets with the passive tool applied 

Cricket becomes the latest sport to adopt the passive bet tool 

In March, the CSA Provincial Challenge one-day tournament featured top South African provinces fighting it out for the One Day Cup. The Division 1 competition was the first cricket competition to have no delays on passive bets applied to it. Testing for this tool in cricket is ongoing and in the early stages so we would appreciate any feedback on user experience so far.

Asian corners testing 

Testing will commence on a new Asian-style Corners Total market in April. The new dynamic goal-line style market will offer half and full lines ranging from 0 to 30 corners. 
It will replace three existing corners markets: 

• Corners Number   
• Corners Over/Under 8.5   
• Corners Over/Under 10.5   
   

The market type will be COMBINED_TOTAL with plans to implement across selected fixtures in early April. 

 We're also in the process of launching first half goals over/under 3.5. We've been quietly offering markets over the last 2 weeks and we're due to switch on for all of football.

Highest number of football games offered at five second bet delay since 2022 

Last year we highlighted that in August 2025, 90% of all in-play football matches on the Exchange were offered with a five second bet delay, compared to 80% in the same period in 2024. 

We have continued to optimise this offering and, as of March 2026, 95% of football matches are now available with a five second delay. This includes near full coverage across top leagues in Austria, Belgium and Denmark, where the majority of fixtures were previously subject to a 12-second delay. 

In addition to improving the in-play customer experience, this change has coincided with stronger engagement in the affected European leagues. Average matched volume in these leagues has increased by 47% year on year following the reduction in bet delays to five seconds.  

Midweek football accas on the Exchange 

In March we reintroduced Acca markets  to help align with industry demands and add to our midweek offering for high-profile European competitions. 

These markets will continue to be available for the rest of the European season, with more fixtures being added where appropriate. 

 At this stage, they are: 

• Midweek only 
• Will centre around sportsbook odds boosts (all sportsbooks) 
• If no boosts, a small number of doubles and trebles from the main games 
• Promoted via a link in a new "Trending" section on the mobile homepage 

TPD provided an update on available racecourse data for UK tracks 

In March 2026, leading horse racing data provider and Betfair partner Total Performance Data released news of a new agreement between TPD and Racecourse Media Group (RMG). Raw GPS data from all UK races will now be processed and distributed in a consistent format and via the Betfair API. As a result, TPD is now able to distribute live GPS tracking data for all UK racing fixtures. There are currently two GPS tracking systems operating across UK racecourses: 

• Gmax- licensed by TPD and installed at Arena Racing Company tracks, as well as Ascot, Newbury, Chester, Bangor, Plumpton, Ripon, Hexham and Newton Abbot. 
• Coursetrack- servicing 36 Jockey Club and Independent racecourses covered under the RMG media rights umbrella. 

Please note that at launch, data from RMG tracks will not initially include stride data or stride metrics, although these will be added in due course.  

Indian Premier League is back for 2026 

The IPL returns following a record-breaking tournament on the Betfair Exchange in 2025 that saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru crowned champions. Their clash with Mumbai Indians saw more than £201 million matched on the Match Odds market alone.  

These two teams are again the pre-tournament favourites: 

• Mumbai Indians - 4.8 
• RCB - 7.2 

Across last year, IPL markets accounted for approximately 25% of all cricket volume on the Exchange, underlining the tournament's scale and global appeal. The 2026 edition promises another standout tournament.