Betfred, Tote and Paddy Power Pay Out Early on Man United Winning 2012/13 Premier League

Paddy Power and Betfred Pay Out Early on Man Utd Winning 2013 Premier League

Betfred had developed something of a habit of incorrectly predicting Manchester United to win the Premier League, famously ending up with egg on their face twice before as Arsenal triumph the first time, and Manchester City the second.

The second time had been the year previous, but they weren’t the only bookie ready to call the Premier League race finished this time around, as Paddy Power and Tote also decided to pay out early on the Red Devils.

The Irish bookie made the announcement just before United beat Everton 2-0 in their 26th game of the season, while Tote and Betfred waited until afterwards, with Fred Done himself stating:

“I’m paying out early again. 12 point gap and 12 games left, it’s over. I won’t be wrong this year.”

Paddy Power had also given their reasons, saying:

‘The fat lady might not be singing yet but she’s definitely getting warmed up. We can’t see United letting their lead slip and, with Real Madrid to come midweek, we thought we’d take some of the pressure off Fergie and give punters an early payday.’

Tote took to Twitter to announce that they too had paid out:

Paddy Power paid out around £500,000 in winnings, so it can be assumed the bill was similar for Betfred, if not higher given the number of high street shops they operate and the fact they are based in the North West.

Their decision might have been a bold one with twelve games left to go, but given United’s form all season, there was plenty of evidence to back them up.

Manchester United had been in 1st place in the league since November, and remained there for the rest of the season, despite only managing 3 wins in their final 8 games, including a crazy 5-5 draw with West Brom in their final game.

The league was already won by that point, though.

In the end, United won the Premier League trophy with a commanding 11 point lead, so the early payout from Betfred and Paddy Power proved to be an astute business move for the two bookies.