The summer of sport is under way and with crowds filtering back into the top events worldwide, excitement is rife as the best athletes in the world compete for the biggest prizes on the planet.
Of course, no event is bigger than the Olympics and all eyes will be on Tokyo through late July and early August, but while the games attract a huge amount of viewers, it doesn’t necessarily bring in the punters.
However, some other events throughout the summer are sure to result in bettors heading to the very best online betting sites in their droves.
US Open tennis
Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world from a betting perspective, and in this year’s renewal of the US Open, world number one Novak Djokovic has a chance to make history.
The Serb equalled Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles with victory at Wimbledon in July, and the betting sites have him priced at 10/11 to move clear of the pair with a US Open triumph.
On the women’s side, Naomi Osaka is at 4/1 to retain her crown and earn what would be her fifth major title on a hard court.
Premier League football
With Euro 2020 in the books, attention now turns again towards club football and in England, Manchester City are unsurprisingly the favourites (4/6) to win the domestic title.
The season goes way beyond the summer and all the way through to May 2022, but the opening weekend alone is sure to be a big one for bettors and bookies.
Newly-promoted Brentford host the opening game of the season against Arsenal, and there are seven further fixtures on Saturday 14th August including Manchester United vs Leeds United and Norwich City vs Liverpool.
Stadiums will be full once more, and after almost a full campaign of behind closed doors action in 2020-21, the return of supporters will be welcomed with open arms.
Manny Pacquiao vs Errol Spence Jr
No summer of sport would be complete without a major boxing event, and with the heavyweight title match-ups delayed until autumn, the welterweights take centre stage in August.
Errol Spence puts his WBC and IBF belts on the line against 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, and the legendary challenger is a 2/1 shot to upset the undefeated Texan.
The fight takes place in Las Vegas, but will garner plenty of attention from fans and punters in the UK too.
Goodwood Festival
Glorious Goodwood is among the biggest flat-racing events of the summer and also one of the most anticipated social events among racing enthusiasts in the UK each year.
Across five days, there is a multitude of action-packed feature races with some of the top horses in the country all vying for major honours.
Such is the significance of the Goodwood Festival, the main races can be wagered on ante post on online betting sites several weeks – perhaps even months – in advance.
Lions Tour
In the summer of 2021, the British & Irish Lions are on tour in South Africa and after a series of warm-up games, the tour concludes with a three-game test series in Cape Town.
These tours only happen every four years, so it is always a special occasion, and there is not much to choose between the two teams.
The Lions are priced at 4/5 to win the series, while South Africa can be backed at 11/10.
In 2017, when the Lions toured New Zealand, the series ended in a draw. The same result here is available at odds of 25/1.