Sportsbetting Trivia

Let’s begin Sportsbetting Facts Trivia with the mammoth betting day: Superbowl Sunday in the US.

Superbowl Sunday
in the US.

One of the most popular bets involving the Superbowl is the initial coin toss; despite what appears to be an obvious 50/50 chance many people analyze the statistics of the coin toss by team and decade to increase their chances of winning.
In 2002, Charles Barkley bet $500,000 on the New England Patriots, the patriots won and Charles was awarded $800,000. Barkley did not have the cash for the initial bet but bookie Mandalay Bay had accepted the bet but initially refused to pay.
Prop or proposition bets are random bets placed on events in the Superbowl outside of the game including the length of the national anthem and which celebrities will play during the half time show. Some prop bets gain more wagers then the game itself.
The Superbowl is the most popular sports event bet in the United States.

Possibly the biggest sportsbetting wager of all time was $5million New Zealand dollars on the All Blacks rugby team to win the Rugby World Cup. That amounts to around $4million US dollars.
Approximately 67% percent of college students bet on sports.
In 2008 a survey by ESPN showed that 118 million American’s bet on sports in that year alone.
Las Vegas is the sportsbetting capital of America. In 2008, over two billion dollars were wagered in Nevada.

The most popular sport bet in Asia is cricket.
In the UK, the most popular sports bets are soccer and horseracing.
Stock car racing in Britain is known as Demolition Derby in the US.
Belgium boasts the Spa-Francorchamps motor racing track.
Frenchman, Alain Prost is the top racing driver in his country and beyond.
Other famous racing car names are Emerson and Wilson Fittipaldi, Juan Manuel Fangio; Formula One=Damon Hill and Mike Hawthorn plus Walter Cronkite who participated in the 1959 Sebring 12-hour race.
In the United States, Nevada is the only place sportsbetting is legalized and taxed.

The game of soccer places in the Top 3 worldwide for most bets placed.
In soccer, the most medals won in the Olympics are held by Hungary.
In 1365 and 1424 the current reigning Kings banned soccer due to growing incidents of violence.
In 1869, handling the ball by anyone other than the goalkeeper was banned by the newly established Football Association.

Youth aged 14-22 most popular betting is on sports.
For eleven different sports, 9% of athletes bet on sports at least once a month.
Sportsbetting is second only to poker for college students.
One in every 3000 college players become professional footballers.

The largest crowd for the Kentucky Derby was in 1974 where 163,628 fans attended.
Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes in New York in 1919, to become the first horse to capture the Triple Crown. This was the first time that the Belmont Stakes had been run as part of the prestigious trio of events to include the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.
The 3 big races for fillies, known as the ‘Triple Tiara’ are Mother Goose, Coaching Club-American Oaks and Acorn.
Julie Krone won 5 races at a New York track in 1 day and was the first female jockey to do so.
South African, Michael Roberts rode for 1068 races in 1992 English horse racing.
Bill Artack and Eddie Arcaro share the lead of wins in the Kentucky Derby both holding five wins each.
The amazing Herve Filion holds a record of 14,084 wins for harness racing.
In American and British horseracing, the horses run in opposite directions on the tracks.
In 1949, the record for the highest jump was set by a horse named Huaso who jumped 8ft 1.26 inches. Amazingly, the horse was 16 years old.
Blue ribbons are awarded to horse racing winners in the United States and Australia, whilst red ribbons are awarded in the UK and orange ribbons in Holland.
England had to ban horseracing for a week in 2001 after reports of foot and mouth disease affecting horses.