Topic: How does betting on exhibition matches even work? (Read 421 times)

I thought all this time that the match was only for foundations and charities and they only get the money from pay-per-views and sponsors. Obviously, there is no point in betting on who will gonna win because with the example above the result is clear even though the fight has not been starting yet also there is no such thing such an upset here because the underdog is already meant to lose the fight. Just like what happened to Mayweather when he fought those Japanese, he ended up knocking them out.

Are there even bookmakers that released betting odds for this exhibition match? I doubt it. But if there is, Mayweather's odds are probably very low that it isn't worth betting. He's expected to win anyway. But I wouldn't consider betting on exhibition matches especially involving the likes of Deji. This isn't exciting. But I understand if there are still people who will watch these exhibition performances. These guys also have some fans.

It's also a thing that they might be enjoying to do.

As for Floyd, I think that he's liking those quick money that he's getting from such fights without risking himself into training more and doing more hard work.

It's fame and money on him and that's what he's doing with all of these offers to have a fight. It's a quick paycheck and easy money on him and them now because of the hard work they did years ago building their reputation.

Usually exhibition matches are for a cause or they raise funds and then donate it to the people or to the organization that are in need of it. By that, the athletes can agree to paid a little or not being paid at all. It wasn't a serious match and their opponents are not from the same field so there's no threat that they can get beaten up badly.

The reason why someone buys a ticket to watch the match is obviously because they are supporting the cause but for the bettors, their main goal is only to make a profit. This was only risky because as others said, the rules on these kind of games are still unknown. Bets like this should be treated for fun only or for testing out our luck.

Indeed! These famous fighters whether if it's a boxer or UFC fighters are just using their fame to collect money from their fan bases. They are just taking advantage of the situation while they are still known and can attract audience. Also there are organizers around the world who would like to risk millions worth of fees just to get that boxer perform in front of them, in this instance, Floyd Mayweather's recent fight.

It's because they want to see their idol, the athlete that they're looking up and it's such a precious moment for those fans that wants to watch the match.

It's an exhibition and mostly, it's for the entertainment that they are aware of upon availing that ticket. Whilst for those bettors, it's something that they usually do, exhibition matches or not.

Such matches are only to raise money for the promoters as well as for the athletes as they are paid quite a lot for the matches.
Sometimes it makes us confused why someone wants to bet on the match but more confusing is why someone still wants to buy tickets to watch the match.
That's a strange thing but it keeps happening because both those who bet and those who watch think it's entertainment

Yes, it is that in fact when one sees the word exhibition, one knows beforehand that it is a fight or a fixed match, and the emotion is not the same, it is like just having fun and seeing some renowned athletes do what they they know how to do the best, despite the fact that you can feel great emotions, it is not the same, you can do other better things, personally, when it comes to boxing and there are exhibition fights, they do not attract me in the slightest, I don't find it exciting, just to go see the boxers and that's it, but the truth is that it's not my thing, I prefer real things, the peelas that really are from belts, where everything is real.


It is that the issue here is that both boxers are very good, but we are also in doubt to whom they will give the Victory, so it is Mayweather, I do not think he likes to see a defeat of himself, he always looks through the exhibition fights that can be generated by many spectators in order to raise funds, but of course there will always be boxing fans who can have an opportunity to see these exemplary, for me it would be a pleasure, but I do not know very well how it is the dynamics of how this unfolds, I understand that the boxers must also train very well, just as if it were a Normal fight, but even so I don't know very well who they can choose as the winner.

I have no idea about the exhibition fight, i have not heard from any official sources regarding the match up, can you share any official website that would confirm this event. The only match up what i have heard about Floyd Mayweather is trying to put together is the Conor McGregor rematch and i am not sure how they can hype that fight after Conor loosing the first fight.

Like all the other opinions here I discourage you to bet on this kind of match even if it's a peer-to-peer bet, if sports betting casinos would not accept betting on this kind of fight, why would you bet on it, there's speculation that the fight could be or can be rigged and we don't bet on a fight that will have a possibility of rigging if you really want to bet it should be on a knock out basis not on who people perceived won the fight.

am curious also what bookie he is referring to offering such odds for exhibition matches? because when it comes to boxing, usually, there's no official winner proclaimed. so how can the bookie distribute the winnings of the bettors if there is no official winner? and most of the time, the result is a draw. so the likelihood of getting your winning is place your bet in the draw betting line. but it is not very often that a bookie here will list an exhibition match maybe except for the Paul brothers' matches. because right now, the fight of Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva made it in the list. Paul is the underdog in this match.
you can check the odds at stake


we don't know the rules for this specific boxing match. will they proclaim a winner?

Some site are not offering any odds for an exhibition match, may I know which site you are playing?
Well, betting on the favorite team or player can be a good advantage, usually the contract of the march really in favors them and even if it gives you small profit that can still be good since you did nothing especial just to know who will gonna win on that exhibition.

Dont know on the thing you had mentioned about preparation for main event.Exhibition matches turns out to be the main event.You cant really see this stuff on a main or official match which would really be lining itself into that part.
You could actually see this on some sportsbook, but thats if they would tend to offer some odds but pretty sure that odds would really be that obvious on whom you would be betting on.
Odds for the ML or main favorite isnt really just too worth for you to take risk.Most of the time bookies doesnt offer any betting for these exhibition matches.
If there are some available betting line then for sure people would just in line with the favorites and viola. Easy money.

I think it has all the things you mention, I'm not pro or I don't have prior experience with exhibition matches but he can try to bet on it, If I'm not mistaken, exhibition matches is just like a friendly match or just like a preparation match before a boxer main event. I just wonder if there's a website that would list a match like this or this is only a pure p2p betting.

You already said it yourself, exhibition fights are not sanctioned and there's no determined winner because in the first place there are no judges who will score the said bout. There's no use on betting in these kind of fights because the purpose of these fights is to give pure entertainment to the fighter's fans and audience. Also, Mayweather already said that he won't fight any fighter that is near his caliber even if it's just an exhibition bout, so it's safe to assume that he is just accepting fights where his wins are guaranteed.

If there are no scoring and no announcement then it's obvious that no betting should be cast, but you can bet if there is knock out in an exhibition fight but it's not going to be on bookies, you can bet against any of your friends, exhibitions don't attract bettors because it can be manipulated and there are rumors that these exhibitions are fixed, its better to bet on real boxing and let exhibition be for entertainment only, it is for pure entertainment only nothing else.

It is not necessary for matches will be added to the list of gambling casino because those are not totally official fights like sparring and training it is just a preparation for the upcoming fights and of course it is not too much serious so it is hard for the people to make a decision in betting because anything can happen like throwing the match so basically not needed to be added in the list.

If I am one of the owner of such kind of biz then I think ill also do the same thing. I don't want to be blamed and I don't want my reputation gets destroyed easily only because the bettors think the results are manipulated. If a sportsbook can avoid it, then the same thing should also be doing by the bettors. They better avoid this kind of betting as well if they are serious and can't afford to lose.

Watching a match like this is already enough to give us a great entertainment and there's no need to ask for more. I don't think they will put the odds of the match results if they won't allow such betting at the first place. It just don't make sense.

Right, that is all for public publicity and for the money for both fighters involved, Nevertheless, there are fans that are willing to pay them with big money, so no complains for 'exhibition fighters'.

But for those gamblers, still up to them, but personally, I'm will not bet on any fights, because most likely it is already been arranged as how the fight will end ever if there is a judge to score the fight.

One of the sport I do not bet on is boxing, I prefer the big matches which are not too often. On big matches, I like the odds because they are of big odds that can yield good return. I am not gambling for the money sake, but for fun of it, but I do not like to lose. About this exhibition matches, I can not go for it, the odds on favorites are small and the favorite can most likely win, going for big odd is likely a loss. I prefer to just go for bigger odds and the reason I can not go for exhibition matches. Exhibition are not real to me, they are just for fun and not yielding good return.

Before, I don't usually bet on this type of game as they are a waste of time and effort to watch.
But now, if there's an available line I try them and pick the favorite player or team in other sports. They mostly win in my experience although it's not that rewarding as the favorites are given lower profits.
Referee stoppage on what round could be the choice in boxing if they won't score it.

The sites where I play, do not offer bets on exhibition matches...so I cannot see why some bookmakers and casinos can actually offer that to their users. I think they might offer a bet on a knockout, because it is very clear who wins the fight in that instance.... but any other outcome will be very controversial.

Even if they offer bets on exhibition matches, I will not bet on it.... because these exhibition matches are money printers and publicity stunts. 

In friendship soccer matches or any other type of sports i've seen there's official scoring. What im saying here is, there is no scoring, no real way to know who won in order to see who won the gamble, thus how is it even possible to place bets on such events?

Also I've heard k-1 was involved in several fixed fights during the Prime era, so the shadow of doubt is there involving these exhibitions. These KO's look a bit weird if you ask me but you never know. If you get hit on a place were the stability is lost it can look kinda funny when you try to get back up.

I usually do not bet on exhibition matches as most of the time these matches are fixed and their result is pre-decided.

Also, what do you mean by the official winner is not announced? There is always a result in these matches. So if you are betting on an exhibition match, the gambling houses will settle the bet in the favor of whoever won the bet. So settling the bet on an exhibition match will never be an issue.

Not possible as I don't remember gambling sites listing an exhibition match involving Floyd Mayweather Jr.

I think they already learned from the experience when Mayweather Jr fought against one of the Paul brothers and in the end, no winners were announced and that is not disclosed on the terms that's why betting sites listed that fight.

The betting was canceled and the bets are refunded. That's what I remember and if I'm wrong, somebody can correct me.

Come to think of it Mayweather against a Youtuber, will this attract bettors, and will bookies get interested in this matchup, this is for entertainment only, the winner here is obvious, but there are exhibition matches that are worth it, like the coming Silva - Paul fight, but we never know if there are talks on the results because it's easy to fix an exhibition and if they are accused of fixing, they will just say of course its exhibition . 

Gambling sites are not listing all exhibition matches basically because of an obvious reason.

If there will be any bets, they should be seen on the actual venue managed by random guys who are taking advantage of that situation.

And even if that was listed on a gambling site, expect betting options in favor of Mayweather Jr. will have low odds that are not worth placing a bet on.

This is the trend now started by the Paul brothers and then taken up by popular retired boxers, it's not easy to launch exhibitions like this, you need a big fan base that is willing to support you, for the Paul brothers it's their Youtube followers, for Mayweather, of course, his boxing fans, it's still generating excitement.


Some exhibitions do have winners but an exhibition is just a show-up if they are not going to announce winners you don't have to bet, it will just be a cause of argument if you bet against someone


Floyd is going to win for the obvious reasons he is a legendary and undefeated boxer what can a Youtuber do against Floyd, it's better not to pay attention to these exhibitions if there is no rule that there should be a winner.

I think that's out of this world fight, even an exhibition match requires a referee. I haven't seen a boxing match that doesn't have a referee, even a not professional fight, like for the amateurs.

There's still a referee.

So, I don't think that there will be an instance that exhibition matches will have no referee unless it's written on the contract on the boxers that are involved in that fight.

As for the bookies, they sure have a standard that's set in determining that and what's the obvious that will appear for their declared winner.

Most of bookmakers wont really be giving out lines available for these fights specially if its a cross-sport involved in between which it is really just bright as day on who would be the winner.

Therefore, its obvious that they wont really be giving out odds, if there are then it would be 1.01x  .. Do people find out for these numbers to be interesting?

Even if you arent a sports lover, you would eventually find out on whose ass would be beaten up.

There is little information about this matter. What we know is that most bookmakers don't offer exhibition matches bets to their customers, because after all there isn't a winner and the only purpose of the fight is entertainment for the public and donation campaigns in some cases.

I suppose the few sportsbooks offering these bets reach to a final conclusion based on the performance of each fighter. The one who shows visible superior quality must be considered the winner by the casinos.

Since it is a exhibition fight, it must not be hard to guess the superior fighter, as these matches usually feature celebrities against professional fighters. So you can expect the odds to be really disproportionate.

It's simple if there will be no winner or loser its useless to bet on these matches I never bet on exhibition matches even on other sports because there's a lack of seriousness on the part of the competing team or individuals, it is for entertainment purposes only, but there are exhibition that has declared winners, Jake's Paul exhibition matches generate interest because it doesn't look like an exhibition the way he knocks out his opponents, the same way professionals fought each other.
Only bet on real matches not on exhibitions because manipulation can happen in exhibition matches.

my take here also, is not to bet on exhibition matches. we also don't know their arrangements prior to the match. as it is only an exhibition match, they can set their own rules without informing the public before hand. some of these fights also are being held to raise some funds for charity purposes, so it doesn't really matter who will emerge as a winner.
if you do want to bet, better go to top and reputable bookies. at least they may be fair and square with the results. they will just return your money if in case the outcome is very controversial one. for exhibition matches, better sit down and relax. no need to stress yourself betting on this match.

^ As a bettor, I will never place a bet if the sportsbook includes the exhibition match. Because that is too complicated to bet since we don't know how the match going on or probably it is a fixed match that they already know who is the winner. They don't have a position or rank to depend on, it is pure entertainment and I think betting on them is not a good idea. That is why they called it an exhibition match because of the entertainment purpose.

This is a good question OP.  I know the Paul brothers fights feel like an exhibition but pretty sure they are scored and what not, but the other type of exhibition matches that I've started to gain some interest in is the ones with former sports stars.  Like former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had a boxing match versus former Steelers running back LeVeon Bell.  Bell knocked Peterson out, so obviously that score took care of itself, but I wonder had he not done so, how would the fight have been called. 

Anyone else been watching these former athlete boxing matches lately?

Just that common sense, you would eventually find out on how they would be declaring the winner.If there are judges then its good to make out some bet and of course we would really be sticking with the obvious

favorite of the said exhibition fight but if there's no referee then its better not to make out some bets.There's no way to determine and could really be ending up on having a draw or something like that.

We've seen lots of exhibition matches, some of them arent been offered by bookies specially into those very obvious results or outcome of a certain fight.

Usually if there's no judge, there must be a way to have a winner on it based on what the bookies will represent how they'll call it as a win.

But it's better to have that idea of avoiding them if you're having that hard time in thinking who could be the winner if there are no judges present on an exhibition match.

Or before betting, you may ask the bookie that you're going to bet about how they're going to determine the winner of a match, I think that's okay to do.

But the question is, are there even sports betting sites that offers odds for this type of matches? I haven't heard one though and if ever there are then they can be suspicious or being offered by an unknown sports betting website.

A fight won't be completed if without a winner so even we say that this is an exhibition match and there are no official rules, then they can still have an unofficial rules in which the criteria for judging or scoring may differ a little bit. You need to watch previous exhibition matches first or get some information online to know if what the judges are looking for so that you won't think that you have been scammed by a bookie.

AFAIK in boxing, an exhibition match mostly doesn't have any official judges and the only way to win is by knock out their opponent. If it's goes to distance, there's no one will win, lose or draw. But each exhibition match are vary one by one since it depends on the both party who create and agree with their rules. While in amateur or professional fights there's an official judges and there's a winner, loser or draw depends on the score.

If you want to bet on boxing exhibition match, I don't think bet on Mayweather is profitable since he will become a huge favorited. You need to consider bet Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva, IMO Jake Paul will win even though he's an underdog.

If I do not misunderstand the exhibition match is one type of match called 'friendship' this is a bet not included in the competition or tournament, yes, usually often bet on sports betting, including boxing, can be said to be an unofficial type of bet.

Bets like exhibitions are often made for boxers who have had a career like you mentioned, I mean those who have good odds when fighting, usually done by many bettors in exhibition bets as a charity and entertainment for fans, usually such bets to get the best points for the coach, so they can put the best boxer in the ring.

This is the purpose of exhibition matches and it is geared towards a purpose maybe for giving the realized money for some social responsibilities or to less privileged, so it is not taking seriously for both parties. Betting on such matches even if the promoters decide to put out for bet or the casino bet on it, it is not a serious bet and I can avoid putting money on it but it does specify a winner at the end just for spectators delight.

Exhibition fight in boxing and some other sport are not real fight. It is a non-profit fight, participants normally fight in less rounds, like up to three, the kind of gloves the boxers wear are not delivering much punches like the ones worn during real boxing fight. Let us see it just like friendly matches in football. There are some sportbooks that do not include such matches, they prefer real boxing matches, but some sportbooks include it. This is never a match I can go for though.

don't bet. that's the simplest solution to a problem you wouldn't have to see it as problem. you just have to watch the fight as it is meant for watching for us to be entertained. its a way for the production to make money from people who still have money.

I think its far better to avoid betting that kind of matches. I also think they don't show up in gambling sites that much but yeah, especially boxing matches are mainly "show" more than they are "sports match". I mean in regular, betting for one guy means you think he will beat/win. But in exhibition matches it's all about numbers. Numbers of people who watch, numbers of people who buy ticket and other things etc. Revenue.

If you can ever bet on it, pick DRAW. But usually, it's not on the crypto sports bookies. Many of them are not even with Floyd vs Paul was not even added afaik. I don't see any reason for it on a betting platform when we all know it's going to be a draw.

People like exhibition fights of celebrity boxers though, Tyson vs Jones was a hit. We'd probably not see them fight anymore.

the game must have winner , and that is enough to answer your question meaning either being rigged or manipulated ? who must care aside from the bettors like us?
because the administration and the boxers team does not.
in all chances they will all win in this , so I believe that as a concern gamblers like us? better not to bet or partake in exhibition games like what I did after Mike Tyson exhibition  fight recently  .

I'm not sure since I haven't bet on it.

But I will assume that perhaps it was just the ML that sportbookies are going to offer in this kind of exhibitions fight. And so if Mayweather is like 1.0x-1.1 favorite, then there is no value in that kind of bet.

So it's better to stir away and smart boxer fans know that this is just for pure entertainment, nothing more and money making for boxers like Floyd Mayweather or the Paul brothers.

Most sportsbooks don't accept exhibition matches afaik? Since as you said, there's a rather vague area in it that most won't risk taking. I'd honestly avoid it if you can, especially if you're seeing the gray areas yourself. If ever I'd think sportsbooks would only put out odds on the match results itself, who won and who lost, and even then I'd doubt they'd actually add it since, well, most exhibition matches have very big skill gaps between the competitors.

There must be a winner in whatever form it may take. Certainly, there must be a winner declared in the end. It might just be a winner without having to prove his points per round or why he came out as one, but I suppose it's enough for the gambling odds to be settled.

Anyway, if you are seeing a whole lot of gray areas in this whole exhibition saga in boxing, then you can avoid it altogether. To be honest, this kind of matches aren't only exhibition fights. The Pauls are into professional bouts. This exhibition virus has already crept into the professional scene for quite a while.

Definitely, there is no judges in Floyd's recent fight with a Japanese fighter, and so bookies open up whether he will win or lose that fight simply as that. And so far he has knock out his opponent if he is fighting in Japan but maybe holding up when facing others.

That's why I usually don't bet on this kind of exhibitions fight because it's either rigged or setup. Floyd will not allow himself to get beaten in exhibition, so for sure, he will continue to win unless Pacquiao is next and the fight could ended in a draw.

If there's no scoring involved in the match then the sportsbook shouldn't put up the odds but based on Wikipedia that exhibition match was counted as a win for Floyd since it was a TKO. Plus if the odds maker gets carried away the bets would most likely just get voided or canceled since there's no determined winner.

Then again I don't think it's worth betting on an exhibition match knowing the odds would be one-sided compared to an official boxing match where they compete at a much tighter level.

Exhibition bouts are becoming increasingly successful in selling PPVs. Basically what it means is that there's your regular card setup with 4 fights (I mostly see this in boxing) and at least one has some big name that attracts a ton of public. For instance, Mayweather's last exhibiton fight has over 4 million views in japan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq0BSRFM9Pw

None of these fights are sanctioned, there's no official scoring or winner. So my question is: How is it even possible to place bets on such fights if no official winner is announced?

I would bet on Floyd winning every single one of these but then again, how does this even work if no scoring is done?

Floyd is fighting again some huge UK Youtuber "Deji" in a couple of weeks, I would place bets but I don't want to end up scammed given the grey area of this whole exhibiton fights thing.