Sporting Index

While there are a multitude of fixed-odds betting sites online currently, if you want to give spread betting a try, then your choices are decidedly less. Sporting Index is one of the most established spread betting platforms around. While the online betting site specialises in spread betting, it also offers pre-match betting opportunities on several sports including football, boxing, tennis, cricket, darts, and motor racing. They also provide non-sport betting odds, for markets such as politics, entertainment, and are one of the pioneers of live betting.

Sporting Index was the first sports spread betting site to be established in 2001 and released a mobile app in 2012. They have grown to become the market leader for UK spread betting and hold an estimated 70% plus of the market share. The site is owned and operated by a company of the same name, which started in 1992. Having been around for over 25 years, they have a strong reputation for honesty and reliability. In 2014, the company won the EGR Spread Betting Product of the Year award for the third time. Sportingindex is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for non-financial Spread Bets and the British Gambling Commission for Fixed Odds Bets.

Visiting Sporting Index

When you arrive on the Sporting Index online betting site for the first time, your attention is immediately grabbed by promotions and upcoming events banners. The site has a dark blue theme that leaves you with no doubt as to what the website is about. If you want to access the Sporting Index casino, you have to go through the Sporting Index games website. However, this Sporting Index review focuses on the Sporting Index sports betting site, sportingindex.com. Punters can make a desktop or mobile login using the Sporting Index login button, which is off-centre to the right.

Just below the login tab, there is a horizontal ribbon that has links to various sports on the site, including snooker, rugby league, golf, and cricket. There is also a comprehensive Sporting Index football drop-down menu that reveals UK domestic, European, Americas, and rest of the world leagues. There is also a link for international events, such as the FIFA World Cup, as well as in-play events and club friendlies.

In the centre of the homepage, there is one of the banners that we mentioned earlier. To the left of the Sporting Index betting website, punters can add several sports to My Favourites, so they can quickly find them the next time. Another feature mentioned in several players Sporting Index reviews is the Recently Viewed menu. After you browse through a few events, you can come back and select one of them from this menu. This makes it easier to coordinate your Sporting Index betting.

Further down the left side, you can find the results centre, a few events, as well as a Sporting Index online blog article.  The main games lobby is filled with a variety of spread odds for in-play games and pre-game events. The bottom part has odds for popular sports, as well as match highlights. The bet slip is on the right side of the page, and you can toggle between adding bets and viewing open bets. Also on the right side, is a banner for fixed-odds promotions.

The bottom side of the site has a brief description of the bookmaker. You can also find links to the spread betting training centre and community, as well as payment options and license information.

Sporting Index Bonuses

The Sporting Index welcome bonus for every new customer is called £100 to Spread Bet. This welcome offer is to the tune of:

• £100 Sporting Index spread bet

Before you decide to take full advantage of this Sporting Index no deposit bonus, you have to know that it’s non-cashable. You can only keep the winnings that you make from it. The bonus is valid for a week and does not require a Sporting Index promo code. Punters should also go through the spread betting training centre so that they know everything about spread betting before making bigger bets with the bonus.

New customers who are more interested in fixed-odds betting are also eligible for a welcome offer. To celebrate you joining the betting site, the bookie rewards you with:

• A £10 Sporting Index free bet

To qualify for this bonus, you need to make your initial online login and place a minimum bet of £10 on any fixed odds event with odds of 1.5 or higher. Once the bet settles, you will receive your free bet. You can only use the free bet in a single bet on fixed-odds markets.

As with most bookmakers, you can find a range of Sporting Index promotions that run throughout the year. If you have mates that you think might enjoy spread betting, you can earn £100 cash for every friend you refer. Your friends should make a minimum of three bets of at least £5. Each player can refer up to ten friends and potentially make £1000 from this promotion. As with all the other bonus offers, you don’t need to use a bonus code to qualify. The casino section is another good source of freebies, as you can turn the Sporting Index free spins into huge payouts.

Sporting Index Mobile

The Sporting Index mobile platform enables players to trade on a wide range of markets from anywhere in the world. All you need is to log in to the website using any modern mobile web browser, like Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. The online mobile betting site looks very similar to the desktop site and will load on almost any modern mobile device. You can access in-play, snooker, tennis, football, horse racing, and cricket events from links that are on top of the age.

A pop-up link on the left of the screen reveals the full list of features on the site. You can access the blog, promotions, help and support, as well as live chat. You can also choose to view the full desktop site from the mobile browser. Even on the smaller screen of your mobile device, the resolution looks great, and everything moves effortlessly. Players can install the web-app icon on their home screen by clicking on a pop up that appears on the screen.

Dedicated app fans will be delighted to know that there is a Sporting Index app for both Android and iOS devices. iOS users can download their version of the app on the Apple App Store, and Android users can find theirs on the Google Play Store. Apart from playing on-the-go, bettors can also access their account manager and quickly deposit and withdraw funds through mobile apps. The apps can also send push notifications whenever a significant event occurs, to help you stay updated on the status of your favourite sport. You can also choose to receive betting highlights on your home screen.

Sporting Index Betting Markets and Software

Sporting Index UK was the first online bookmaker to offer spread betting on sports in 2001. The online betting site provides spread betting opportunities on a total of twenty sports, including football, motor racing, boxing, darts, cricket, tennis, volleyball, politics, and ice hockey. Each sport has a wide range of markets to bet on. For example, in football, you can find markets like total goals, bookings, goal minutes, corners, and more. In cricket, you can bet on, not just how many runs and wickets each team and player will score, but also on fours, sixes, and wides. Sporting Index puts up an explanation on each market in an information box next to the market. If you aren’t sure of any of the markets, you just have to hover your cursor over it to read a full explanation.

While the variety in the Sporting Index sportsbook is lower than average, the bookmaker’s focus is mainly on bigger staking punters. Therefore, there is a minimal incentive for them to include odds for more obscure sports, such as fantasy football and pesäpallo. The bookmaker also removes sports that have a limited number of active markets. Therefore, the number of available sports tends to fluctuate. The company also branched out to offer Sporting Index slots in their casino section.

Punters can also get a VIP, real-life casino experience in the Sporting Index live casino. Sporting Index focuses on spread betting. This is a betting system where instead of betting on the odds of a specific event occurring, you are given a prediction, then bet on if that prediction is too high or too low. The closer you are to the correct prediction, the more you win, but the more you’re wrong, the bigger your losses become. This type of play is closer to stock market trading than regular sports betting. It’s a more calculated way of betting, and punters can get full training about it from the Training Centre section of the site.

For punters who like to bet in real-time, the Sporting Index live betting is arguably the best place to be. The in-play betting option is the default selection on the front page for all sports. You can also watch all the sporting action live in HD using the Sporting Index streaming service.

Deposits and Withdrawals

As one could expect from such an innovative betting site, Sportingindex has a wide range of payment options which include:

• Visa
• MasterCard
• PayPal
• Paysafecard
• Neteller
• EntroPay
• Apple Pay
• Wire Transfer
• Fast Bank Transfer

All deposits reflect in your account instantly, except Fast Bank Transfer, which may take up to three days and Wire Transfers which take two to ten working days. The minimum deposit is £5. Punters can use the same payment methods for making withdrawals and the minimum withdrawal is £10. Visa and MasterCard take 1-5 days to make a withdrawal. E-wallet withdrawals take 12-24 hours while using Bank Transfer takes 2-10 working days. All deposits and withdrawals are processed free of charge.

Customers can contact customer support using a variety of options. You can reach the Sportingindex customer service through telephone, email, or the live chat button on the top right corner of the screen. More tech-savvy customers who don’t mind sharing their problems with fellow punters can get help via Twitter. Old school bettors can contact customer service via post.

Responsible Gaming

Betting on sports is a fun and exciting pastime, and it’s essential to keep it that way. Unfortunately, for a small number of players, gambling can create a lot of problems. Sporting Index believes in speaking plainly. Their Responsible Gaming policy is, therefore, one of the simplest to read and understand. Sportingindex has a set of helpful tips and tools that can help you get back on track.

• Track Your Gambling – tracking your betting activity is an integral part of gaming responsibly. It can help you remain in control of your time and finances.
• Keep an eye on your spending – punters can use the simple betting calculator on the site to estimate how much they spend on betting. They can then set up a budget, and be able to use money that they can afford to spend.
• Money limit – helps you stick to your betting budget by limiting the amount of money you can deposit and bet.
• Stop-loss account – will limit your losses to an agreed threshold, in case you come across unusual or volatile results. It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re winning and enjoying yourself. To keep your time management in check, you can:
• Set a time limit in advance – If you think you might need a breather from gaming, you can apply a time out period which will freeze your account for a day, up to six weeks. You will not be able to place any bets, and you will not receive any betting related material. Your account will automatically get reactivated when the time-out period elapses. Alternatively, opt for self-exclusion.

It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to open a betting account or gamble. Every new customer is, therefore, identified and goes through an age verification process. Parents are also encouraged to install filtering software like Net Nanny and Cyber Sitter to bar their kids from accessing betting sites.

Conclusion

Sporting Index is the pioneer of online sports spread betting, and they have done an exceptional job of maintaining their position as the industry leader. The betting site offers an exciting alternative for punters who are bored with fixed betting and are considering something new. Punters can place spread bets on around twenty sports at any given time. There is also an option to make traditional bets, as well as play in their casino section. Sportingindex also offers live betting and vibrant streaming service. Mobile betting fans will find delight in the Android and iOS apps, which allow push notifications and home screen highlights.

Punters with other types of mobile devices can also access the mobile site using the web-app. Bettors who are new to spread betting can go through the comprehensive Spread Betting Training Centre, and come out as budding experts. Even after going through training, placing spread bets is still risky. That’s why the bookmaker offers a welcome offer for you to get the hang of things without risking your own money. Existing customers and fixed bet punters also get some exciting bonuses and promotions. If you feel like you could give Sportingindex a try, there is a wide variety of payment options that you can use to deposit and cash-out. Overall, this is a bookmaker that has minimal challenge in their niche.

Pros and Cons

We’ll conclude this review with the pros and cons of betting on Sportingindex.

Pros

• A substantial range of markets for a variety of sports
• Solid in-play betting service
• They have expert traders that cater to every type of customer
• The website has excellent navigation, and bet placement lay-out
• Quality customer service
• Training centre
• Offers telephone bet placement

Cons

• Can take time to learn spread betting
• Promotions are not readily displayed