How much does it cost to bet on football's forgotten leagues?
Every bookmaker hides a cut in its odds. On football's most obscure leagues that cut reaches about 11% — and at the worst bookmaker 15%, more than double the ~6% you pay at the best.
We tracked the odds on 781 fixtures priced before 24 July 2026 across 43 lower-profile competitions and measured the cut each bookmaker takes on the match result. It's a look at the market itself — how expensive these leagues are to bet, and how few bookmakers even price them — not betting advice. 18+, information only.
The bookmaker you pick matters
The cut on match-result odds, bookmaker by bookmaker, from the cheapest to the most expensive. The gap between the best and worst is about 2.4×.
| Bookmaker | Median cut | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle | 6.3% | 638 |
| Dafabet | 6.7% | 724 |
| 1xBet | 7.3% | 738 |
| Betano | 7.8% | 731 |
| Marathonbet | 7.9% | 714 |
| Unibet | 8.1% | 673 |
| Superbet | 8.2% | 485 |
| 10Bet | 8.8% | 652 |
| BetVictor | 9.0% | 648 |
| Bet365 | 9.3% | 715 |
| 888Sport | 9.5% | 129 |
| William Hill | 10.0% | 661 |
| Betfair | 10.1% | 728 |
| SBO | 14.9% | 568 |
Some leagues cost far more than others
The typical cut per competition. Big summer leagues with lots of bookmakers — USA's MLS at ~6.6% — are among the cheapest; the obscure minor leagues climb toward 11%. We don't compare with Europe's top leagues here — they were between seasons during this window and aren't in the data.
| League | Median cut | Best price | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA MLS | 6.6% | 4.3% | 34 |
| Brazil Serie A | 6.6% | 4.0% | 23 |
| Norway Eliteserien | 7.2% | 3.7% | 25 |
| Sweden Allsvenskan | 7.2% | 4.9% | 33 |
| Korea K League 1 | 7.3% | 3.6% | 30 |
| Mexico Liga Mx | 7.3% | 4.8% | 27 |
| Brazil Serie B | 7.6% | 4.6% | 53 |
| Europa Leaguecup | 7.7% | 8.0% | 31 |
| Sweden Superettan | 7.9% | 5.8% | 16 |
| Romania Liga I | 8.0% | 5.9% | 15 |
| Russia First League | 8.0% | 5.6% | 18 |
| China Super League | 8.0% | 5.2% | 32 |
| Champions Leaguecup | 8.0% | 7.9% | 54 |
| Bulgaria First League | 8.0% | 6.8% | 14 |
| Ecuador Liga Pro | 8.2% | 5.7% | 20 |
| Peru Primera Division | 8.2% | 7.8% | 18 |
| Conference Leaguecup | 8.8% | 10.6% | 93 |
| Finland Veikkausliiga | 8.9% | 4.2% | 20 |
| Serbia Super Liga | 9.7% | 9.3% | 13 |
| Slovenia 1 SNL | 10.0% | 5.9% | 8 |
| Bolivia Primera Division | 10.0% | 9.2% | 9 |
| South Korea K League 2 | 10.0% | 5.7% | 16 |
| China League One | 10.0% | 7.8% | 8 |
| Australia Queensland Premier League | 10.3% | 10.6% | 4 |
| Uzbekistan Super League | 10.3% | 7.8% | 13 |
| Iceland Urvalsdeild | 10.3% | 6.0% | 17 |
| Iceland 1 Deild | 10.5% | 7.8% | 10 |
| Kazakhstan Premier League | 10.6% | 10.6% | 14 |
| Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League | 10.6% | — | 1 |
| Argentina Primera B Metropolitana | 10.8% | 10.5% | 21 |
| Estonia Meistriliiga | 10.9% | 7.9% | 5 |
| Argentina Primera C | 10.9% | — | 16 |
| Moldova Super Liga | 11.0% | 12.4% | 4 |
| Latvia Virsliga | 11.0% | 7.8% | 10 |
| Brazil Catarinense 2 | 11.1% | 12.5% | 4 |
| Chile Primera B | 11.1% | 9.2% | 7 |
| Latvia 1 Liga | 11.1% | 12.8% | 7 |
| Iceland 2 Deild | 11.2% | 10.6% | 6 |
| Lithuania A Lyga | 11.2% | 7.8% | 5 |
| Lithuania 1 Lyga | 11.2% | 12.8% | 11 |
| Paraguay Division Intermedia | 11.3% | 12.4% | 8 |
| Estonia Esiliiga A | 11.3% | 12.7% | 5 |
| Estonia Esiliiga B | 11.4% | 12.8% | 3 |
"Best price" shows the cheapest reference book's cut where it priced the league; two-legged cup ties are flagged separately.
The leagues almost nobody prices
How many bookmakers put up odds for each competition. When only a few price a match, the market is thin — the price is whatever those few decide.
| League | Bookmakers per match (median) | Range | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia First League | 4.5 | 2–6 | 18 |
| Kazakhstan Premier League | 5 | 3–12 | 14 |
| Latvia 1 Liga | 5 | 5–10 | 7 |
| Argentina Primera C | 7.5 | 5–10 | 16 |
| Chile Primera B | 8 | 5–8 | 7 |
| Latvia Virsliga | 8 | 1–13 | 10 |
| Paraguay Division Intermedia | 8 | 7–11 | 8 |
| Serbia Super Liga | 8 | 5–13 | 13 |
| Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League | 8 | 8–8 | 1 |
| Brazil Catarinense 2 | 9 | 7–12 | 4 |
| Lithuania 1 Lyga | 9 | 3–12 | 11 |
| Moldova Super Liga | 9.5 | 8–10 | 4 |
| Estonia Esiliiga B | 10 | 10–11 | 3 |
| Bolivia Primera Division | 11 | 9–13 | 9 |
| Estonia Esiliiga A | 11 | 3–11 | 5 |
| Iceland 2 Deild | 11 | 7–12 | 6 |
| Australia Queensland Premier League | 11.5 | 11–12 | 4 |
| Argentina Primera B Metropolitana | 12 | 4–12 | 21 |
| Estonia Meistriliiga | 12 | 5–13 | 5 |
| Lithuania A Lyga | 12 | 2–13 | 5 |
| Mexico Liga Mx | 12 | 6–13 | 27 |
| Peru Primera Division | 12 | 11–13 | 18 |
| Slovenia 1 SNL | 12 | 6–13 | 8 |
| USA MLS | 12 | 8–13 | 34 |
| Uzbekistan Super League | 12 | 11–12 | 13 |
| Bulgaria First League | 12.5 | 11–13 | 14 |
| South Korea K League 2 | 12.5 | 11–13 | 16 |
| Sweden Superettan | 12.5 | 10–14 | 16 |
| Brazil Serie A | 13 | 2–14 | 23 |
| Brazil Serie B | 13 | 10–14 | 53 |
| China League One | 13 | 13–13 | 8 |
| China Super League | 13 | 12–14 | 32 |
| Ecuador Liga Pro | 13 | 8–13 | 20 |
| Champions League | 13 | 2–13 | 54 |
| Conference League | 13 | 11–13 | 93 |
| Europa League | 13 | 1–13 | 31 |
| Finland Veikkausliiga | 13 | 12–14 | 20 |
| Iceland 1 Deild | 13 | 8–13 | 10 |
| Iceland Urvalsdeild | 13 | 10–14 | 17 |
| Korea K League 1 | 13 | 12–14 | 30 |
| Norway Eliteserien | 13 | 12–14 | 25 |
| Romania Liga I | 13 | 11–14 | 15 |
| Sweden Allsvenskan | 13 | 6–14 | 33 |
Methodology
We measured the bookmaker's cut (the "overround") on the match-result market from the last odds before kick-off, then took the middle value across bookmakers. Sample: 781 fixtures priced before 24 July 2026, across 43 competitions; kick-offs of the 985 fixtures in the corpus fall between 21 June 2026 and 7 October 2026. Built with statistical models. 18+ — information only, not betting advice or a promise of profit.
European cups — schedule, stages and tables: UEFA Champions League · UEFA Europa League · UEFA Conference League