We measure the margin Betfair actually builds into its 1X2 football prices — not the one it advertises. 2,273 matches in the last 30 days, every price taken from our own odds snapshots. We have no commercial relationship with Betfair or any other bookmaker.
Last computed:
Pinnacle 6.48%
8.52%
At a 7.83% margin, every 100 units you stake with Betfair carry an expected cost of 7.83 units before any skill is involved. Someone staking 100 units a month pays roughly 94 units a year in margin alone — 73 units more per year than at the cheapest bookmaker we track (Matchbook, 1.74%).
Each point is the average margin of the matches whose last pre-match price we captured that week (weeks with fewer than 10 matches are hidden). The most recent point can still move slightly as late prices arrive.
Margin by competition, last 30 days, leagues with at least 20 priced matches. 'Market avg' is the average margin of all bookmakers we track on that league — how Betfair compares to its peers, not just to itself.
| League | Avg. margin | Market avg | n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | 1.01% | 7.44% | 41 |
| Premier League | 1.60% | 5.92% | 25 |
| League One | 1.81% | 7.84% | 36 |
| Jupiler Pro League | 1.95% | 7.81% | 20 |
| La Liga | 1.96% | 5.75% | 29 |
| League | Avg. margin | Market avg | n |
|---|---|---|---|
| China League Two | 11.46% | 10.83% | 31 |
| Ukraine Premier League | 11.28% | 8.70% | 29 |
| Bulgaria Second League | 11.08% | 11.24% | 42 |
| Paraguay Division Intermedia | 11.08% | 11.35% | 38 |
| MLS Next Pro | 11.04% | 10.66% | 73 |
Measured from 2,273 matches in the last 30 days, Betfair's average 1X2 margin is 7.83%. That means the implied probabilities of its home/draw/away prices add up to about 107.8% instead of 100%; the excess is the bookmaker's built-in fee.
Betfair's margin of 7.83% is 1.35 percentage points above the sharp benchmark's 6.48% over the same matches. Among the 35 bookmakers we track with enough data, Betfair ranks #15; the cheapest is Matchbook at 1.74%.
On the matches we priced in the last 30 days, Betfair's highest margins were on China League Two (11.46%) and its lowest on Championship (1.01%). Smaller competitions almost always carry a higher margin at every bookmaker.
For every match, we take each bookmaker's most recent 1X2 prices from our own odds snapshots, convert them to implied probabilities (1 divided by the odds) and sum them. A fair market sums to exactly 100%; anything above that is the bookmaker's margin — the built-in fee you pay on every bet. We average that margin across all matches the bookmaker priced in the last 30 days. Nobody pays us for placement and no affiliate deal reorders this table: it is arithmetic on captured prices, recomputed daily.
TipsAudit has no affiliate, sponsorship or advertising relationship with Betfair or with any bookmaker. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to open an account anywhere; it is a measurement of what the prices cost.