The betting market over time: Overround and surebets in European football.

Sports betting is an important industry that generates billions of euros of revenue in Europe, and attracts the attention of sports economists. The recent entry of new companies could influence the market regarding the prices (overround), and hence, cross-bookmaker arbitrage opportunities. This paper investigates the movements of major betting companies in European football during the period from 2000-2001 to 2016-2017 with respect to these two issues. The results show a continuous decrease in the prices of the odds, which is especially noticeable in the top five leagues. In this line, the number of surebets have increased among major bookmakers in recent years, which offers bettors more possibilities of making a profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]