Will It Happen in 2024? It’s Special and You Can Bet on It!
In the gambling world, the unwrapping of betting markets on outcomes that may come to fruition in the forthcoming year has become a Christmas tradition. The final few days of December and the first few days of January always see UK bookmakers devise unique bet offers.
2024 is no different. However, old chestnuts such as ‘the proof of alien existence’ and ‘the Pope to become the next manager of Glasgow Rangers’ are rarer than they once were. New Year’s Specials have become a serious business, no longer restricted to novelty betting sites.
Frankie Dettori won last season’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Inspiral. Can he land one of the 14 Grade-1 races at the Breeders’ Cup meeting this year or any Grade-1 in the States during 2024? You can bet on it. ©GettyImages
They now pose serious questions about outcomes in sports, entertainment, and politics that people can relate to. New Year Specials regularly offer gamblers genuine betting value, and they can be used as part of a ‘bigger picture’ betting strategy.
In this piece, we will look at some of the ‘Will It Happen in 2024?’ betting offers that have appeared in recent days. Many markets, such as ‘Sports Personality of the Year’, will remain open and mature as the year progresses. This one will be volatile, with the UEFA EURO 2024 up for grabs and the Olympic Games joining the major perennial sporting events.
Luke Nukes the SPOTY Betting
Teenaged darts sensation Luke Littler was the first Sports Personality of the Year favourite. Just two days into 2024, he was priced up as the 3/1 market leader. Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Mark Cavendish followed in the betting. The trio were available on odds between 8/1 and 12/1 at the bet365 sportsbook.
But most New Year Specials are individual and unique propositions designed to entice punters. If they fail, they create talking points, which, in turn, will find an interested punter somewhere. For example, few people are more polarising than Nigel Farage. Will he become a Member of Parliament in 2024? He is priced on 5/1 to do so and will attract some bets.
At a point bigger, the legendary seven-time Super Bowl winner, Tom Brady, can be backed to make a second retirement U-turn and play in the NFL in 2024. And, if boxing betting is your bag, does the 10/1 available on Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, both suffering a defeat during 2024, tempt you?
When Oleksandr Usyk was ringside for Tyson Fury vs Derek Chisora 👀#RingofFire | 17.02.24 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia pic.twitter.com/c6sG2RbdnG
— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) January 2, 2024
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are scheduled to meet on February 17. The WBC title holder, Fury, is 8/11 to become the undisputed heavyweight champion when he takes on the WBO, WBA, and IBF titleholder in Saudi Arabia. It has been reported Fury will earn £100 million from the fight.
A Football Special to Hit the Net
Football fans have plenty of ‘Will It Happen in 2024?’ propositions to consider. Ivan Toney – banned for eight months in May 2023 for breaching betting rules – can return to the sport on January 17. How will he perform after the layoff? Given he is 3/1 to make the England Euro 2024 squad, it is an important question.
Harry Kane is sure to take part in the German competition. He is priced on 5/1 to score a hat trick in any game. England’s June 16 meeting with Serbia or the June 20 clash with Denmark might be his best opportunity to put three past a keeper.
At the same price is Markus Rashford to leave Manchester United. 9/1 is available on any Premier League team going unbeaten. And 16/1 are the odds of an EPL or EFL side appointing a female manager on a permanent basis.
A Lightning Bolt for the Sprint Record?
William Hill quotes the USA on 1/6 to win the most medals at the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26. The 3/1 available on the Men’s 100 or 200-metre world record being broken in 2024 is more generous, albeit unlikely.
Noah LYLES 🇺🇸 wins the Men’s 100m 🥇 in style, clocking a world-leading 9.83.#WorldAthleticsChampionships #Budapest2023 pic.twitter.com/ZWWa8fG7db
— Big Moments (@The_Big_Moments) August 20, 2023
Three athletes shared the distinction of recording the fastest 100-metre time in 2023. Stopping the clock at 9.83 seconds, they were well short of Usain Bolt’s 9.58 seconds world record time. Likewise, Noah Lyles’s wind-assisted 19.47 seconds season best for 200 metres is well short of the 19.19 seconds Bolt registered in 2009.
At 25/1, It’s the Dogs
Selected online sportsbooks cater for greyhound fans. 25/1 is offered on any greyhound winning both the English Greyhound Derby and the Irish version. Toms The Best is the only greyhound to win both races. However, he completed the double in different years: 1997 and 1998.
The proposition is not the lost cause the ‘pony’ odds suggest, as Irish-trained greyhounds have dominated the English Greyhound Derby in recent times. Furthermore, the bulk of new age winners have gone on to contest the Irish competition that begins between four and six weeks later.
25/1 is also offered on any greyhound going through the Greyhound Derby unbeaten. It is a rare feat but achievable. Southwood Jet reached the final of the 2020 contest without tasting defeat. He started the decider as the 7/4 favourite but met trouble in running and finished fifth.
Back Grade-1 Frankie on the Nose
Of course, every major UK-facing online bookmaker has devised markets on happenings in 2024. Many involve Frankie Dettori winning a British classic or a Royal Ascot race. There is also an abundance of Aidan O’Brien markets. Amongst these, the Irish trainer is 14/1 to claim all five British classics.
The best betting value of all ‘Will It Happen in 2024?’ propositions would appear to come in horse racing. Coral offers 11/8 on Britain having fewer than ten winners at the Cheltenham Festival. As Ireland holds so many Aces this season, surely it is a great bet.
Ireland’s potential squad looks mighty strong, and the home team managed just ten winners in 2023, 2022 and 2020. In 2021, there were only five British winners. 2017 was another poor year, with nine British-trained horses finding their way to Cheltenham’s winner’s enclosure.
Bet365 may have also slipped up in offering 5/4 on Frankie Dettori partnering a Grade-1 winner in the USA. The Italian had three Grade-1 rides at Santa Anita on Boxing Day and was beaten by a nose on one of those.
The popular jockey should have many more chances. His current home track has another seven Grade-1s scheduled before mid-June. Dettori will probably then head two hours south to Del Mar for its late summer and autumn meetings. The track, with an age-old slogan of “where the surf meets the turf”, stages the Grade-1 laden Breeders Cup meeting in 2024. In 2023, it also hosted its own six Grade-1 races.
