Although famed for paying out early, many have accused Paddy Power of only doing so on the cheap, when it might win them headlines but won’t really cost them very much.
This was not one of those times.
Manchester United were enjoying a spectacular season, 7 points clear at the top of the league after 26 weeks, with just 2 losses and a mere 11 goals conceded.
They had drawn Fulham in the 6th round of the FA Cup, a game they were expected to win, and faced Tottenham in the final of the League cup just a few weeks after the early payout was announced.
Paddy Power’s Head of Communications, said:
“We know and punters know the race for trophies is all but over for another year so why wait for the formalities?
“If none of the opposition are able to even score a goal against United what chance have they got of actually beating them to silverware? We just hope someone can do us a favour and stop them in Europe.”
At the time, United were 1/6 to win the league, 2/5 to win the FA Cup, and 7/4 to win the League Cup (then the Carling Cup), so the market fancied them as much as Paddy Power.
The early payout cost the bookie more than €1 million, although obviously, the thinking was that they would have to pay it out eventually anyway, so better to close the market early and accept defeat at the same time as garnering some positive headlines.
However…
Although Manchester United did indeed go on to win the League Cup a few weeks later (albeit on penalties), and took home their 11th Premier League trophy, they couldn’t seal the deal with the FA Cup.
Despite breezing through the competition to the semi-finals, the Red Devils ended up being knocked out to Everton – on penalties.
Paddy Power had therefore paid out on a fair number of what would have been losing bets, but they did get their wish in Europe though. United made it to the final but were outclassed by Barcelona, who played them off the field.
As a Manchester United fan, that was hard for me to write.