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What betting really costs: margins by league

A live study, recomputed with every data refresh: the 1X2 margin per league after taking the best available price across every bookmaker we track. Last update: 2026-08-05.

298Fixtures sampled
27Leagues
3.08%Avg best-price margin

Cheapest to most expensive

#LeagueFixturesAvg margin
1 Allsvenskan 8 0.05%
2 Premier League 10 0.15%
3 Ligue 1 9 0.36%
4 Serie A 10 0.57%
5 La Liga 20 0.68%
6 Bundesliga 9 0.76%
7 Eredivisie 9 1.16%
8 Danish Superliga 4 1.53%
9 MLS 31 1.63%
10 Championship 12 1.91%
11 Eliteserien 7 2.21%
12 Swiss Super League 6 2.38%
13 Primeira Liga 9 2.58%
14 2. Bundesliga 9 2.59%
15 Scottish Premiership 6 2.79%
16 Belgian Pro League 9 2.86%
17 Brasileirão 20 3.02%
18 Süper Lig 9 3.11%
19 Austrian Bundesliga 6 3.51%
20 J1 League 10 3.57%
21 League One 12 3.88%
22 La Liga 2 11 3.90%
23 K League 1 6 4.12%
24 Ekstraklasa 7 4.27%
25 Liga MX 9 4.38%
26 Greek Super League 7 4.64%
27 Liga Profesional 33 9.64%

Margin = Σ(1 / best price) − 1 across the three 1X2 outcomes, averaged over the league's current fixtures. Because we take the best price per outcome across all tracked bookmakers, these figures are LOWER than any single bookmaker's margin — this is the cost after line shopping.

What this means for bettors

The margin is the fee you pay for every bet, and it varies far more than most bettors realise. Top competitions attract sharp money and dense bookmaker coverage, which compresses margins; smaller leagues carry wider ones because operators price them with more caution and less competition. Two practical rules fall out of this data. First, line shopping is worth real money: taking the best price across bookmakers, as this table does, routinely cuts a single operator's margin in half. Second, the league you bet on is a cost decision — the same skill level loses more per bet in a high-margin league. Our screener bakes both rules in: it compares every tracked price and only flags selections that beat the margin-free fair line.

Methodology: for every fixture in today's feed we take the best available decimal price for each 1X2 outcome across all bookmakers we track, sum the implied probabilities and subtract 100%. The page rebuilds with every data refresh, so numbers always reflect the current board. Fixture counts vary with the calendar; leagues with fewer than three priced fixtures are excluded.