Top 5 biggest sports bets in history
by Devesh Jaganath | by Cydias Aujard
#5: Floyd Mayweather’s Championship Bet
Back in 2017, the sporting world witnessed one of the greatest fights of all time, with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather taking on UFC poster boy Conor McGregor in Las Vegas, in a bout that was sure to attract astronomical sums of wagers through the world’s best online betting sites.
Mayweather, known for placing eye-watering sums of cash on sports, was installed as the clear favourite in the fight, and just hours before the bell could ring, the champ decided to splash out a staggering $400,000 on himself to win the bout in under 9.5 rounds.
Due to concerns over legalities surrounding a boxer betting on his own fight, it is understood that Mayweather was declined by the sportsbook, but he reportedly found a way around the technicality, albeit that the final sum wagered is still debated.
#4: The Leicester City Miracle
If you’re a fan of the Premier League, you would likely agree that 2015-16 brought one of the greatest storylines in the history of English top-flight football, when Leicester City defied the odds (in a big way) to win the league title.
The Foxes had barely avoided relegation a season earlier, and as a result, were installed as 5000/1 underdogs to win the Premier League at the start of the 2015-16 campaign, but that did not stop an anonymous Ladbrokes punter from placing a cheeky $50 bet with a potential return of $250,0000!
As it turned out, Leicester City pulled off arguably the greatest upset of all time, finishing 10 points ahead of Arsenal, and the lucky punter who wagered on them cashed in a life-changing quarter of a million in what still stands as one of the biggest single-line football bets in history.
#3: The Super Bowl $3.5 Million Bet
From English football to the American variety, and 2002 marked one of the greatest seasons ever, with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick guiding the New England Patriots to Super Bowl XXXVI as massive underdogs against the St. Louis Rams, who had just won the Super Bowl two years earlier.
The Pats were installed as 60/1 outsiders heading into the match, but that did not deter one astute punter from placing a wager that would return an incredible $3.5 million if New England defied the odds to win the title.
At the time, the Rams had an offence that featured the likes of Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, but the Pats somehow managed to keep them at bay before setting up a 48-yard field goal, which Adam Vinatieri nailed. The Patriots ran out 20-17 winners, and the punter who backed them cashed in on arguably the biggest underdog win in the history of the Super Bowl.
#2: The Vegas Whale Bet
Las Vegas is undoubtedly home to the biggest risk-takers, and one anonymous bettor, nicknamed ‘The Whale’, reportedly wagered over $8 million on a single sports event. While his identity remains a mystery, it’s said that the wager was placed on Game 6 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros in 2017.
It is understood that ‘The Whale’ had gone 5-0 in the series and his winnings had accumulated to $8 million heading into Game 6. However, in true Vegas fashion, the anonymous sports gambler decided to let it ride one more time.
Las Vegas gambling insider RJ Bell, who could only describe the high-roller as a “mysterious Eastern European man”, confirmed that the bettor's win was legitimate and also mentioned that he placed another wager on Game 7 to the tune of $14 million, though he did not reveal if it won.
#1: The $14 Million Bet That Shocked the World
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was not only a historic one because it was the first to be hosted in Africa, but it also broke several betting records, with reports indicating that over $50 million had been wagered on the final between Spain and the Netherlands in England alone.
An unknown bettor also made history that day by placing a bet of $14 million on Spain to win the final at Soccer City in Johannesburg, and his bravery paid off as La Roja won the match 1-0, with Andres Iniesta scoring the all-important goal deep in stoppage time.
While the exact sum that the bettor won was not revealed, Spain were installed at 4/1 in the pre-tournament odds and around 2/1 by kickoff of the final, meaning that the win could have been anywhere between $28 and $56 million, proving that sometimes… fortune favours the bold!
