Betfair Exchange June Newsletter: New World Cup markets, passive bet delay expansion and more

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World Cup 2026: new markets and expanded football coverage 

The World Cup 2026 gets underway across the USA, Canada and Mexico on 11 June.

From a betting perspective this World Cup will be intriguing with unknown teams, variable weather conditions and water breaks just a few of the many factors to consider. 

With 48 teams, and an extra-round of 32, this is the biggest World Cup yet.

With that in mind, we've expanded our Exchange market offering to provide the best possible experience and opportunities. 

Outrights 

Our outright selection has grown to 54 markets - up from 42 in 2022 -featuring enhanced England-specific markets, stage of elimination, regional options and more. 

These consist of:  

• 10 Core Outrights
• 24 Group Markets  
• 7 Stage of Elimination 
• 5 England Specials  
• 6 Regional Markets 
• 2 FIFA Award Winners 

Match offering 

All matches will feature our standard market offering which we use across the English Premier League, La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. To increase our offering we have brought back some markets which were previously offered in our Grade 1 template:  

• Match Shots 
• Match Shots On Target 
• Player to Commit 1 or more Fouls  

We are also offering 2 new markets: 

• Player To Score or Assist  
• FIFA Player of the Match 

We have recently rolled out First Half Goals 3.5 in our higher-level games and this will be offered on every match of the tournament. 

Team news voids 

In line with our top-tier offering this season, we will be voiding non-starters at the time team news becomes available in each of the markets listed.

Any player not named in the starting XI will be voided and will remain voided even if they are brought on as a substitute later in the match. 

For markets that require substitutes to be included, once voids have been completed the selection "Any Other Player" is added. 

Specials  

During the UEFA Europa League Final, UEFA Conference League Final and UEFA Champions League Final, we trialled "Match Specials". We plan to roll this out for bigger games across the World Cup. 

The introduction of Specials to the Exchange is one of the most exciting additions for this World Cup. For the first time on the Exchange we are venturing into the world of bet builder style selections.

We are hopeful that these markets will grow throughout the World Cup and become a core feature of our offering on the Exchange going forward.

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No delays on passive bets reaches 100% in Cricket 

We're pleased to announce that passive bet delays has been extended to 100% coverage across Cricket. This comes after a successful period of testing in May across domestic and international competitions.  

The tool will also be applied to the whole of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the intention to extend it to 100% of Football by the start of the European season.  

Passive Bet Delay Coverage

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Latest figures for dynamic bet delays in Tennis 

Figures from May showed positive signs for the ongoing dynamic bet delay testing whereby bet delay reduces during changeovers in Tennis matches.

For Challenger and WTA matches with the dynamic tool applied, 17% of total matched volume was matched within the passive bet delay period. When compared to total time of match the passive delay period was 12%.

These figures suggest that the faster execution is being utilised during stable periods.  

We welcome any thoughts and feedback on the dynamic delay testing we have done so far.

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Asian corners testing paused 

In April we announced testing on a new Asian-style Corners Total market. This has now been paused as the market naming convention created some challenges for API automation. 

We're working to find a suitable time to resume this work and will update you accordingly.  

For now the previous corners market offering will remain:  

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

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Betfair Predicts Beta is live 

We're excited to announce that Betfair Predicts is now available as a beta offering on the Exchange.

Betfair Predicts provides predictive insights to help you make more informed trading decisions.  

Visit the Betfair Predicts site to explore the beta version and share your feedback as we continue to develop the product.

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Get tips and predictions from the World Cup Hub

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