Eurovision Betting UK - Guide and Best Bookmakers for 2023

How we rank the best Eurovision betting sites

Eurovision is probably the biggest non-sporting event of the year. When it rolls around, punters flock to UK betting sites to have a flutter and hopefully land some potential winnings. Not all UK Eurovision betting sites are created equal, though, so we’ve reviewed and assessed the best ones. Here are the factors we consider when doing that.

Ways to bet	When it comes to entertainment, the Eurovision song contest is way up there for enjoyment. That’s the same when it comes to betting on it as well. A key consideration for ranking Eurovision betting sites is the variety of markets offered. Sites that provide a wide range of betting options, including outright winners, top countries, top five placings, and individual performance bets, will be looked upon favourably.
Quality of odds	Now Eurovision may be fun to watch and even to bet on, but it doesn’t amount to much without the potential to land good winnings. The odds should be desirable and competitive with other sites offering Eurovision bets. Sites who offer the best bang for your buck are more likely to be recommended.
App and site experience	Nothing is more off-putting than an ugly website or app, which is clunky and cumbersome to use, and that crashes regularly. I mean, nobody wants that, right? But, the reality is, some apps and sites just aren’t as good as others. We’ll recommend ones that have easy-to-use navigation, respond consistently well, and promote apps that offer everything a site does: markets, events, and features. We consider all of this before we recommend anything.
Sign up offers	The betting sites that are running promotions specifically for the Euros, whether it’s a free bet or an odds boost, will be looked upon favourably. Of course, many generic sign up offers are out there and can be used for the event too, so we’ll recommend ones offering the best deals.
Fair terms and conditions	Bonuses and promotions seem enticing, and often they are good value, but the terms and conditions aren’t always the same across the board. UK Eurovision betting sites that have achievable and fair terms and conditions for bonuses and betting features (like cash out), as well as visibly and clearly write them in an easy-to-understand way, will be more likely to rank highly.
Live betting	Just like betting on the sporting events live, bettors want to bet on Eurovision as it unfolds.  on the game live as well. Coupled with cash out, this is a bettor’s best friend as they can watch the basketball unfold and make decisions in real-time.
Customer support	Any issues, questions or queries that a bettor has should be resolved quickly and seamlessly, with access to live chat, email or telephone numbers a cinch. Friendly, knowledgeable and accessible customer support agents are factored into our review on how effective a customer service setup is for a betting site.
Facts and stats	Just like any sport, Eurovision is an event of facts, figures, trivia, and stats. Now, anything could happen on the big night, but it’s always good to understand previous year’s winners and anyt other information that could inform a bettor’s wager. This is a great way to enhance their experience and we’ll factor this into our review.
Reviews	Speaking of review, we also thoroughly assess what customers have to say about a betting site before we consider recommending them. We trawl through all the online reviews we can find to glean insights into what bettors’ opinions are on the UK bookies in question. Who better else to tell us what works and what doesn’t than the customer themselves?
Security and safety	Punters deserve a safe and secure betting environment, given that they’re wagering their hard-earned cash on the platform. Best practice security measures like SSL encryption, anti-fraud measures, and the latest cybersecurity solutions are all key to being considered in our recommendations. We’ll also never recommend a site that isn’t fully regulated and licensed.
Payment methods and payouts	In order to be recommended, a varied number of payment options for bettors to deposit and withdraw funds needs to be present. Debit card and credit cards are obviously a must, while we want to see additional solutions like Apple Pay or Google Pay, and even PayPal, Neteller (no, not the chocolate spread) or Skrill. Withdrawing any winnings should be equally intuitive and easy. Bettors will be put off if they have to wait longer than is necessary to receive their funds.

The top Eurovision betting site reviews:

#1 Eurovision Betting Site - Betfred

#2 Eurovision Betting Site - LeoVegas Sport

#3 Eurovision Betting Site - Ladbrokes

#4 Eurovision Betting Site - William Hill

As you may have guessed, Eurovision betting sites are websites of bookmaker brands that allow you to place wagers on the Eurovision song contest. Similar to bookmakers that allow you to place a bet on a football match or the outcome of a horse race, you can make bets on the outcome of the Eurovision competition too! You can bet on practically anything these days.

What exactly is the Eurovision song contest?

The European Broadcasting Union hosts the internationally televised Eurovision Song Contest, which features contestants chosen by member broadcasters who represent their nations from around all around Europe and on occasion, other continents too. Traditionally held in the country which won the preceding year’s event, the contest provides an opportunity to promote the host country and city as a tourist destination.

It is the largest song contest in the world and the finale event has been broadcast live every year in May since 1956, with the exception of the year 2020 when it was cancelled over safety concerns relating to the pandemic. Having graced our screens since the 50s, it is one of the longest-running television programmes worldwide as well as the longest-running annual international televised music competition.

Some of the biggest names of Eurovision

In some cases, the singers were already relatively known locally. In other cases these are completely new singers and songwriters who actually find their fame because of the contest. Knowing how many years it has taken place there have been a lot of singers who are now known around the world and I’m sure you’ll recognise some of the following huge names.

Singer	Country they participated for
Celine Dion	Switzerland in 1988
ABBA	Sweden in 1974
Loreen	Sweden in 2012
Bucks Fizz	United Kingdom in 1981
Cliff Richard	United Kingdom in 1968

Rules of Eurovision

As with any competition, there are a clear set of rules that every participant must follow to be successful. Unlike sports, the Eurovision song contest only has a couple of rules so it’s very easy to understand – even if you’re a complete newcomer to the event.

• Each song must be a complete original songs
• A song’s maximum duration is three minutes.They can be shorter than this, but not longer.
• Live lead vocals are required.
• A single performance may not feature more than six performers.

There are always between 24 and 26 countries that make it through to the final round and by the end of the live finale there will be one winner.

How many countries are allowed to take part:

As we know, there are twenty four countries that make it to the live final event. But how many countries actually apply and audition to take part in the early rounds of the contest? Since the contest started in 1956, fifty two countries have participated. Generally speaking these are all from Europe, but for some years they have allowed countries like Israel, China and Australia to name a few.

Every year, regardless of how they scored in the previous year, there are 4 countries that are always guaranteed a spot in the live final. Since 2011, this number went up to 5 when Italy joined the big four to become the current big 5. Knowing that there are 5 countries guaranteed to be in the finale can actually make it a little easier when betting on Eurovision when you consider probabilities before you start betting.

What countries make up the big five?

The EBU members provide more financial assistance to the competition than other countries. As such, the song submissions from these countries go straight through to the grand final. Let’s take a look at exactly which countries this includes.

United Kingdom	France
Germany	Italy
Spain

Available markets you can bet on for Eurovision Song contest

Outright winner

This is probably the easiest of all the bets you could make on Eurovision because all you need to do is back the country that you believe will take home the trophy at the end of the live event. When betting on Eurovision, this is the main outcome people focus on so it makes sense to make wagers on betting sites with this in mind.

Winner by Jury vote

Since there are technically two sections to the voting, this is where things can get a little bit more interesting. Unlike where you choose an outright winner, the winner by jury vote allows you to place a wager on which country you think will end up at the top of the leader board based on the jury vote alone.

Winner by viewer vote

The winner by viewer vote is practically the exact same as the winner by jury vote bet, except you’re instead focusing on what country gets the highest points over all from the view votes. Even after the first set of points are dished out, the contest can still change drastically which makes this a very exciting bet to place – especially if you are watching from home too!

Top finish

It can be difficult to predict the winner of the Eurovision contest. You’ll do well to choose the champion considering there are between 24 and 26 acts in the Grand Final. As a result, many gamblers choose placing a stake in a nation to place in the top three. This can be among the top three, five, or ten. This is a fun way to make sure you’re predicting outcomes but allowing yourself some wiggle room in case your chosen “team” doesn’t win overall. By having the option for your country to win the first 2nd or 3rd spot you allow yourself more chances to be right.

How are points scored on Eurovision

Each of the twenty four countries will award their favourite song a total of two sets of points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12), one set by a jury of five members of that country’s music business and the other set of points are given by local viewers of the show that are watching from home. Voting for viewers is available via phoning into the show, SMS text messages, as well as the official Eurovision app.

As expected, no country is allowed to book for their own country. There are, however, instances where very close countries with strong relationships will give each other their high points – regardless of how the actual song was. This is a regular occurrence that happens every year.

The song and country with the most points wins the coveted trophy and is given another performance at the conclusion of the Grand Final.

Past winners of Eurovision

Since the contest has been on our screens since 1956, there are a lot of winners that we have had over the years. Here is an insight into the last 10 years worth of contests and who won the trophy for their country each year!

Winning Country	Singer or Band name	Year that they won
Ukraine	Kalush Orchestra	2022
Italy	Maneskin	2021
Netherlands	Duncan Laurence	2019
Israel	Netta	2018
Portugal	Salvador Sobral	2017
Ukraine	Jamala	2016
Sweden	Man Zelmerlow	2015
Austria	Conchita Wurst	2014
Denmark	Emmelie de Forest	2013
Sweden	Loreen	2012

Ireland is the most successful nation in the competition with 7 victories. Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom each took home five victories, while Sweden won the competition six times.

If you want to look at the losses of the contest, on up to eleven occasions, Norway could be located at the bottom of the leaderboard. This could be deemed disheartening but they always seem to get straight back into the finale each year and beat multiple other nations.

Step by step guide: How to bet on Eurovision betting sites

We will be using William Hill for our example on how to use betting sites to place wagers on the Eurovision

Step #1: Sign up or log into your William Hill account

From the homepage, you can either log in or sign up as a new user. To create an account for the first time if you are new, click the yellow “Join” button from the top right corner of the screen. Clicking this will open the form where you can begin entering your personal information. As you can see below, you will need to input your title, First and last name that matches your legal ID, your date of birth, email address and mobile number before finally putting your postcode in. A couple of the other fields will be filled in for you automatically once you have provided your postcode.

The second page will ask for the information relating to your future login credentials. You will be asked to come up with and then provide a unique username. This is the name you will go by when using the site instead of your first name. Next you will need to input your security answer after choosing a relevant security question. This is used to help you gain access if you get locked out of your account in future so make sure you choose answers and names that are memorable so you don’t forget! Once complete and your registration is finalised you will be sent back to the homepage.

 Step #2: Find the Eurovision song contest betting markets

After your account has been created (or if you have logged in as an existing user) you’ll next need to navigate from the homepage to the section of the website that covers the Eurovision. The quickest and easiest way to find it is to go to the magnifying glass image in the top left of the screen near the William Hill title. This will open up a search bar for you to manually type what you are looking for. This is quicker than searching through the long list of the betting book.

As you can see from the search results there are a few different options to choose from depending on the market you want to bet. We will use the top link which takes you into the event page.

Step #3: Deposit your funds & making a bet

From the Eurovision front page, you will see a list of all the countries that are involved in the competition and the odds underneath each one. In order to create a bet slip, you will first need to deposit money into your e-wallet since that is what you will be betting with. To do this, you can click on the odds bet you wish to place money on which will add it to the bet slip. You will not be able to confirm the bet until your account has been funded.

When you first create your bet slip, (for this example we are backing Italy to win at odds of 7/1) you will need to select the odds and then choose how much you want to place in the bet itself. This amount is then typed into the white box on the bet slip. As you will notice, as you adjust that cash value, the projected returns will then be adjusted to reflect the amount you input. The more you bet, the higher your potential returns will be. Once happy, click the yellow “place bet” button. This should then prompt you to deposit money into your account.

Depositing your funds is relatively straightforward and William Hill has multiple payment methods to choose from. The assumed method of payment is debit card but if you would like to deposit your money using a different way you can simply select the method from the left side of the window. Make sure you input all the boxes with accurate information. You will need to deposit enough money to successfully cover the bet you are about to place. Also, make sure your card details are all filled out correctly so that there is no reason your deposit fails.

Once funded and your bet is placed all you need to do is wait.

Step #4: Settling your bets

So your bets are all finished and now there is just one thing to do which is to check if your predictions came true. Normally William Hill will notify you with a message sent to your mail folder in your account of any winnings or losses. IF you are unsuccessful with your bet then nothing changes. If you were correct with your predictions then you will have the winnings from the wager paid automatically into your e-wallet. With your winnings you are then able to withdraw which is pretty much the reverse process of how you deposit and you can do this by clicking on your account balance and clicking withdraw on the left side.

Final thoughts

Luckily for fans of the Eurovision song contest, it is very easy to follow along and can be a great event to watch live. As a fan and bettor, it’s a fantastic event to make bets on as there are so many potential winners. As with any bet made, you can be most successful when you understand the rules as well as do some research on each of the participants. By understanding their musical history, music style and knowing the popular songs from the past, you’ll have a better chance of predicting accurate outcomes.

Enjoy betting on Eurovision and hopefully you make some correct picks!