We’re halfway through 2011, and most of 2012’s big-tier sporting events are still months away. And that’s good for affiliates: As the NHL and NBA finals conclude, and the sports world gets ready for the World Series and the start of the football season, it may be the best time of year for betting affiliates to start building marketing plans around upcoming events.
All major sportsbooks are already offering odds for the next NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL championships. And affiliates catering to the international market have even more to look forward to: The Rugby World Cup later this year, various international football (a.k.a. soccer) match-ups including the FIFA Women’s World Cup (going on now), and many more. And don’t forget WSOP odds!
Here’s 2012’s biggest betting events:
Super Bowl 2012. Bodog’s got current champs Green Bay as the frontrunners, but there’s also plenty of room in the pack for other favorites like New England. The NFL is the biggest sports event in the U.S., so Super Bowl odds are essential advertising for any American-based betting affiliate.
College Football 2012. Oklahoma, Alabama, and Florida State lead the pack. Bodog’s also got odds on who’ll win the next Heisman Trophy (Stanford’s Andrew Luck is the frontrunner) and other cool prop bets.
The Triple Crown 2012. Horse racing’s three biggest U.S. races — the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes — are held in the spring. The Kentucky Derby in particular is one of the most-watched sporting events in North America.
NHL 2012. The Zambonis hadn’t even finished clearing the ice after last week’s final NHL game when Bodog offered its odds for the next season, picking Vancouver over new champs Boston.
NBA 2012. Again, before the dust even settled on the 2011 season, major sportsbooks were already predicting that Miami would win it all in 2012. Odds are also offered for the 2011 NBA draft.
Here’s what’s left of 2011:
And if you’ve already got your betting affiliate site up and running, here are the highlights of what you may want to promote for the rest of 2011:
Wimbledon. Going on now, this London-based tennis tournament is the world’s oldest, and, according to many, the best. European bettors particularly are following the action closely, on European-facing betting sites like bwin and Eurobet. Unibet’s got live streaming of the action, too.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011. Not as big as the men’s tournament, but still plenty of action to follow. This one starts this weekend in Germany.
2011 Rugby World Cup. This is big on the international scene: About six weeks of rugby finals as the world’s top teams compete for the big prize, starting on September 9th in New Zealand.
MLB playoffs and World Series. October and November, 2011. U.S. sites like Bodog already have the odds, and they’re changing as the season moves on.
The NFL regular season. September through December, 2011.
There’s also the Canadian Football League (CFL) and various FIFA events like the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup (going on now in Mexico), the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup (starting in July) and the FIFA Club World Cup (set for December 2011 in Japan). (The next FIFA World Cup isn’t until 2014.)