Sky’s family of gambling sites – SkyBet, Sky Poker, Sky Vegas and Sky Bingo – enjoy the backing of one of the largest multi-national corporations in the world.
Their position in the sporting market, notably for the screening rights of Barclay’s Premier League and SkyBet League matches, means that when it comes to football, Sky don’t tend to stint on offers.
This is clear across all of their sites. Currently on Sky Vegas you can win two tickets to the World Cup Final by playing a World Cup Themed online slot. At various points of the season, you can play a number of freeroll and other promotional events on Sky Poker. Even Sky Bingo will hold special bingo events at times to celebrate a big soccer-related event.
Then there are offers such as the Gillette Soccer Saturday Super 6 and their Fantasy Football game, both of which offers Sky customers (on their website, not necessarily television subscribers) the chance to win up to £1,000,000 in free-to-enter competitions.
However, it is the SkyBet site which is the home of most of the football promotions simply because betting on football is now huge business and of course, having been inextricably linked with the Premier League since its inception, SkyBet do offer a wide range of football markets on a huge range of matches across the globe.
However, we are not going to look at these many different types of football bets today.
Instead, we are going to focus in on some special football bets that SkyBet offers from time to time. On the site they are called “Specials” or they can be either “Manager” or “Transfer” specials, amongst others.
What are these bets? Read on to find out – but first, if you aren’t yet a customer of Sky, you’ll want to be sure to secure a SkyBet no deposit bonus code before placing any bets, special or otherwise!
What are SkyBet soccer bet “Specials”?
SkyBet’s soccer betting specials are generally bets that are about markets that other bookmakers may not feel comfortable offering, or just may not offer full stop. Rather than about concrete events, such as the final score of an imminent game, or who may score a goal in a game, or the result of a match, these bets tend to be more speculative.
They tend to take one of five different forms, depending on the time of year and what has happened in the football world in the weeks prior.
With all these specials bets, timing is a key element. Sky Sports tend to hear first when some big news story is breaking, such as the appointment of a new manager, and what will happen is as the story gains credence, the price on that manager being appointed will shorten drastically.
Therefore, getting your bet on at the right time to get the best price is critical.
Outlined below are the types of bet you will typically find in the SkyBet Specials section of the site.
Next manager bets
When a manager is sacked at a relatively top side (usually from the Championship or Barclays Premier League, although occasionally bets may be offered on top teams from across Europe too) Sky Bet may offer a Manager Special.
These bets speculate from a list of news sources, rumours, hearsay and the availability of footballing personnel, who from the world of football is likely to be the new permanent manager of a football club.
For example, given that Tottenham Hotspurs recently sacked Tim Sherwood, there is a keen market on which personality will become the next Spurs boss in the Manager Specials section of the site.
For each market, the list of possible managers who could get the job is shown, together with their odds of being appointed to the role in a full time capacity. News stories and rumours can lead to one manager being a firm favourite, but it is always possible that the team may select an outsider to the role.
To bet on these markets simply select which personality you want to back for the managerial role at the stated club and enter your stake as you would for any other bet.
Next manager to be sacked bets
A football manager’s time in the role can be a cruelly short one. Clubs, especially at the top levels, are increasingly intolerant of failure and even just a handful of poor results can have board directors getting twitchy and rumours of managers set to be sacked.
Given that this speculation plays a key role in supporters enjoyment of the game, SkyBet frequently run special bets, especially at the start of the season, on which manager will be the next to be fired in a particular division.
It may seem a somewhat heartless bet as you are wagering your money on someone else losing their job, but it can be a lucrative bet too if you pick the right manager to face the sack next.
Usually this market is sorted by divisions with the managers most secure in their role the longest odds, and those who are under pressure or facing the sack at the shortest price.
Manager/player specials
If a notable club makes a major signing, such as a new manager or a top quality player, then SkyBet will often offer specials linked in with the achievements (or lack of them) of the person in question.
At the moment, for example, there is a special running for new Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal and another for LMA Manager of the Year, Tony Pulis.
These specials tend to focus on the individual achievements (or lack of them) for the stated player or manager. For example, one of special bets offered for Louis Van Gaal is for him to win a trophy in his first season as Manchester United manager (which is currently at odds of 11/8).
Of course, as the season wears on and the teams fortunes fluctuate, these prices can rise and fall dramatically.
Player transfer specials
During the two transfer windows of the year, (certainly following the World Cup) one of the most popular form of special bets is to wager on whether a stated player will be transferred permanently to another club by a stated time and date (usually the end of the current transfer window).
Once again, as transfer speculation about a player increases, the price on a player moving to a certain club, or staying with his current club will fluctuate. Timing on these deals can be key to getting the best possible price, especially if you can get on the transfer just before it becomes common knowledge.
Once a transfer is common knowledge however (such as Southampton starlet’s Luke Shaw’s imminent transfer to Manchester United), then the odds on that particular deal will be slashed.
The great thing with SkyBet with these types of deals is that they are often offered for a whole range of players, particularly those who have been strongly linked in the press, or by their clubs or agents, with a move away from their current club.
Award specials
The final type of special bet that is available on the Specials section of the site are those based on awards. These can be based on which player will win the Player of the Year in England, who will win the Ballon D’or award, or which manager may be voted the LMA Manager of the Year in the following season.
These are the least often type of bets made and usually they are available throughout the course of the season, though the prices available on certain managers will fluctuate considerably as the fortunes of their club ebbs and flows.
The Special bets on SkyBet offer soccer fans a chance to bet on markets that are not so easy to find on other bookmakers site. Used well, especially if you have good football knowledge and an ear for incomings and outgoings at your supported club, then they can offer a profitable and exciting way to bet on less-common football markets.
As mentioned before, Sky has an enormous family of trusted UK betting sites. Check out our in-depth Sky gambling guides for more insight on Sky Poker, Sky Vegas, and the entire array of Sky wagering sites.
