Football Index has only been around since 2015 but in that short while, it’s revolutionised the world of sports gambling.
It’s added a new dimension to the industry by giving people the ability to bet on the performance of players, by turning them into stocks whose values appreciate and depreciate.
Can you make money from it and is it going to take betting away from sports betting geared casinos like Mr Green? We’ll explain all that and more.
How is the Football Index like the stock market?
First things first, Football Index is all about the players. It’s a gambling platform that merges the stock market with the world of professional football by making players into stocks – players become like a corporation floated on the stock market, where performance, confidence, expectation, and a host of other factors see their value rise and fall. This allows people to bet on the future success of players by purchasing shares (units) of them.
Player shares in Football Index are known as Futures and, exactly like in the stock market, you buy units to build a portfolio. Here’s an example of what a Football Index portfolio could like:
Credit: Football Index
The idea is that you then sell the shares in your portfolio for a profit, in just the same way that you would if you were playing the stock market – you also receive a dividend payout for each share that you have. The question, though, is how do your player values appreciate or depreciate? Let us explain in the next section.
How do player values change in Football Index?
Combining football and the stock market sounds like a bet-loving Football Manager fan’s dream come true. However, to make it a worthwhile way of betting, you need to know how your wager goes up and down – that’s where player values come in.
Player values change because of a range of different factors, as the creator of Football Index, Adam Cole, explains:
“‘Performance Dividends’ pay out to traders based on footballers’ on-pitch performance. Traders can buy players they consider ‘on form’ as we use Opta data measures – 40 points for scoring a goal to 1 point for a successful pass and minus 5 points for a yellow card.
Payouts are made to the Top Defender (including Goalkeepers), Top Midfielder, Top Forward and Star Footballer, who is the day’s top performing player. ‘Football traders’ only make a loss if they choose to sell at a loss.”
In short. a player’s value is determined by how they perform on the pitch. This takes the research element of sports betting to a new level, as you bet on the long term performance of a player rather than their actions during the course of a game.
Can you make money using Football Index?
Players are your currency in the Football Index and their form is the measurement of success for the money you wager on it. But is it as simple as a striker scores a goal, your shares go up in value and you earn cash? Like the stock market, there’s more than one way to make money from Football Index – below are the key ways that you can do so.
Buy low value player stock and sell for a high price
If you live for getting granular about player data, then you may be able to spot some bargain shares. Finding players who you believe to be undervalued by Football Index and selling them for a profit is a great way to make money – the great thing is that if you spot an undervalued player, you can buy an unlimited number of shares in them.
Matchday Dividends payout based on the number of games
Football Index uses Match Days to give payouts for every day where there are games in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Champions League and Europa League. You get a payout if you've bet on a player who has played in one of those competitions and finished top for their position – the level of payout depends on the player's position and the number of games played that day.
Media Buzz pays out when there are no football matches
No games on? No fear. You can make money from Football Index even on an off day. How? Because the Media Buzz pays out dividends on the three players generating the most online attention. Media Buzz monitors all of the UK’s online football news then determines the three players with the highest score. It works throughout the year, meaning that you can earn dividends even during the football season’s summer break!
Do sports betting casinos need to fear Football Index?
Casinos that offer sports betting as part of their gambling options, such as Betway, will rightly view Football Index as a rival – after all, football is the world’s most popular sport and new ways of betting on it can take punters away from the old methods of wagering.
However, there are two key reasons to believe that casinos should be inspired, not terrified, of Football Index – it’s an opportunity for them to broaden their betting options; Football Index doesn’t offer traditional sports betting.
It’s predicted Football Index will have over 500,000 users by the end of 2019. While this is a lot of gamblers it pales in comparison to the numbers that sports geared online casinos enjoy – for example, Bet365 is renowned for its sports betting and has over 35 million customers worldwide. If Bet365 and other online casinos with a sports betting base decide to take Football Index on at its own game then they can win on the numbers game.
Even if Betway, Bet365, Mr Green, or all the other online casinos decide not to add a Football Index style stock element to their offerings, it doesn’t spell disaster – Football Index is another way of sports betting, not a replacement for what’s gone on before. Any suggestion that sports betting fans will suddenly decide they no longer want to bet £10 on the winner of an individual match is nonsense.
Football Index is an exciting addition to sports betting. It rewards gamblers who adore research and adds longevity to sports betting, with your initial bet (purchase of shares) lasting as long as you keep it.
But while it may entice a new generation of people into sports betting and give another gambling option to existing fans, it’s not going to cause casinos to go out of business.
Instead, casinos should see Football Index for what it is – an opportunity to tweak their offering and give their customers even more sports betting options!
