Having become accustomed to heartbreak, it’s possibly unsurprising that a large number of Star Sports punters were predicting a Germany victory last night.
Nonetheless, following a historic win and a breakthrough winning goal for Harry Kane, the firm is expecting to see an influx of patriotic punters, as football’s journey home becomes increasingly likely.
Speaking to GamblingTV, Dave Jolly, Head of Trading at Star Sports, said: “From a patriotic perspective, as well as a business point of view, we were delighted with last night’s win for England. Right up until kick-off, most bets were placed on Germany to win and then we gradually saw an influx on the Three Lions to win.
“We didn’t see many people backing Harry Kane to score and England to win, despite this being boosted from 3/1 to 4/1 before the game. Now Harry’s broken his duck for the tournament, we expect to see more bets placed on him scoring and an England victory for the Ukraine match.
“Our Two Good offer, which pays out on a team when they go two goals in front, has been driving bets on single matches and last night was no different. On top of this, our YES/NO competition saw a record number of entries with top place earning £500 and nearly 200 people received free bets as part of their participation and success in this initiative.”
The victory sets up a quarter-final clash for the Three Lions against Ukraine on Saturday in Rome, with England priced at around 6 to 1 on to book their spot in the final four.