With most huge sporting competitions come huge amounts of betting. One of the largest sporting competitions in the world is the UEFA Champions League. Incorporating the top tier teams from all of Europe’s premier football divisions, the competitions runs annually and works much like any other league-based competition – facing off teams initially in groups and then in a series of knock out phases.
Running since the 1950’s the competition has a very long history of attracting lots of bets, given the fact that it incorporates teams from so many different nations. With a reputation for producing some of the biggest surprises in term of unexpected results, it is very little wonder indeed as to why so many people enjoy placing so many wagers on this competition each and every year.
The UEFA Champions League is one of the most heavily sponsored sporting events to take place in the world annually, with this seasons guarantors including the likes of Gazprom, Heineken, MasterCard, Nissan, PepsiCo and HTC. Such huge sponsorship deals are obviously reflective of huge viewership rates, and you would be correct in thinking that an astronomical number of people tune in to Champions League fixtures year in year out.
The 2013 final between the two Germany Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, which took place at London’s famous Wembley Stadium, is the most watched match of the competition so far. Raking in an estimated 360million television viewers, it is unknowable how many bets were placed!
Media coverage for the Champions League, in particular the latter-stage matches, is immense in size. Many media outlets scramble and contend for the rights to air the games in their countries – with many nations outside of Europe airing the games as well as those nations with teams participating.
