A lower league but with many fans around the world: that’s why we wanted to dedicate a guide to Championship betting. Passion, history, and the true essence of English football, a tournament with a high level of technique and competitiveness that deserves to be followed.
The short list of the best betting sites for the Championship
The first data point we want to start from in our analysis is the best betting sites for the Championship. When betting on a football tournament that is not top-tier, it’s always important to do your research and choose the bookmaker most suitable for this competition. Our analysis revealed 5 operators that cover this event very well. Before selecting them, remember that gambling is reserved for adult users (+18) and that betting does not guarantee winnings.
The top 6 online bookmakers for the Championship
| 7Signs | 7Signs 4.5/5 | Bonus up to €500 + 200 free spins | Visit the site |
| Lunubet | Lunubet 4/5 | Bonus up to €200 | Visit the site |
| Wonaco | Wonaco 4/5 | Bonus up to €500 + 200 free spins | Visit the site |
| Fezbet | Fezbet 4.5/5 | Bonus up to €150 | Visit the site |
| Playzilla | Playzilla 4.5/5 | Bonus up to €150 | Visit the site |
| 20Bet | 20Bet 4.5/5 | Bonus up to €100 | Visit the site |
* Betting does not guarantee winnings. Terms and conditions apply; gambling is reserved for adults. 18+
How we selected the bookmakers for this tournament
In the previous paragraph we presented our top picks overall, but there are also many other reliable operators with international licenses to bet on this league. That’s why we want to explain the four most important criteria for evaluating a bookmaker for the Championship. You’ll find them summarized in the element below:
The criteria we used to select the best bookmakers:
- The level of payouts and odds.
- The number of promotions dedicated to the Championship.
- The quality of the live section and presence of streaming.
- The abundance of markets live, pre-match, and on the app.
At the top of the list is, of course, the value of payouts: Championship odds are the most important factor for all bettors who want to get the most out of this tournament. However, factors such as bonuses and promotions dedicated to the event should not be underestimated, nor should the live and streaming section and the number and quality of available markets.
The value of payouts and odds
In this paragraph we’ll focus on the payouts and odds of the Championship from the best operators with international licenses. As we explained in our guide to analyzing bookmakers, payouts are a percentage derived from the odds and help us understand the bookmaker’s margin: the closer to 100%, the higher the potential winnings.
Minimum and maximum payouts on the Championship
- 7Signs: 92.5% – 96.0%
- Lunubet: 91.0% – 95.0%
- Wonaco: 92.0% – 95.5%
- Fezbet: 93.0% – 96.5%
- Playzilla: 92.8% – 96.2%
- 20Bet: 93.5% – 97.0%
In the chart we included the minimum and maximum values found during our research, both on the 1X2 market and on other minor markets. As you can see, the percentages are quite good and often approach 96%, making Championship betting very profitable. Despite being a lower-tier league, international bookmakers have a lot of stats on this event and can be extremely accurate with the odds.
Specific promotions and bonuses to use
Beyond odds and payouts, we can increase our winnings with bonuses and promotions dedicated to the event. Although they are fewer in number compared to those offered for Premier League betting, we can still take advantage of tasty promos while betting on the second tier of English football—perhaps using the bookmaker from the box below.
- Promotions on the Championship
- Acca bonus to use
- Great welcome offer
William HillVisit the site
From time to time, this operator offers the chance to apply interesting promotions like insurance bets on the Championship. Moreover, let’s not forget that all the bookmakers we included in the top 5 of this guide offer welcome bonuses we can use on this tournament, along with valuable acca bonuses.
Live betting on the Championship and sites offering streaming
Another important factor in choosing the right bookmaker is live betting. During our analysis, we assessed the schedule, markets, and real-time payouts of live betting sites dedicated to the second tier of English football. Also, the live streaming of Championship matches played an important role: you can often find them in the live section schedule on Eurobet.
The types of bets to play
The last aspect we evaluated were the markets, both in terms of quantity and quality, meaning for example the presence of many goal scorers or exact scores to bet on, combo bets of various kinds, and so on. The types of bets for the Championship surprised us in both quality and variety, but we expected a great job on this front from British bookmakers.
The most important markets to bet on in the Championship
As we saw in the previous paragraph, the types of bets to play are a very important factor to evaluate. In this section of the guide we will get to know the single match and outright markets on the Championship better. To do this, we have collected for each type of bet some interesting statistics from last season that can also be very useful in the future.
Championship betting
- Match betting
- Outright bets
- Everything about the tournament
- Team info
Types of bets on individual matches
The most played types of bets on the Championship are undoubtedly those on single matches. As with other major football leagues, also in this case the most popular ones are Match Result (the classic 1X2), Under/Over, and Both Teams to Score. There are many others that could be analyzed in detail, but in this case we refer to sites specialized in providing statistics.
Match Result
1X2
- 41.12%
- 25.18%
- 33.70%
The most played market in the EFL Championship is undoubtedly the classic Match Result, also known as 1X2, in which you are asked to predict which team will win the match or whether it will end in a draw. To bet in this way, we recommend taking a look at the statistics of the teams involved in the match you want to bet on.
However, it can also be useful to look at the general data of the tournament. In the chart shown here we have reported the data from last season, from which a clear prevalence of home wins (41.12%) emerges—still lower than in other leagues—while away wins made up over 33% of total results.
Under/Over
OverUnder
- 40.94%
- 59.06%
Another very popular market on the second tier of the English championship is the one known to football lovers as Under/Over. In its standard version, this type of bet requires you to predict whether the total number of goals scored by both teams will be over or under 2.5.
In this case too, statistics can be very helpful: they can, for example, help us understand whether teams in this league are generally more attacking or defensive. Data from last season shows a clear advantage for the Under outcome (almost +20%). However, in the final matchdays we recorded an absolute balance.
Both Teams to Score
BTTS
- 45.29%
- 54.71%
The third most common type of bet is the one called Both Teams to Score by all Italian bookmakers. This market asks us to guess in EFL matches whether both teams will score or not. How can you predict this in advance? It’s not easy, of course, but looking at the defenses and attacks of the teams involved can help.
Even a careful analysis of the championship’s past results can be very fruitful. In the pie chart of this paragraph we have reported the data for this market from last season. As you can see, most matches ended with the No outcome (54.71%), while in only 45.29% of cases did both teams manage to score.
Outright markets
Perhaps not everyone knows this, but the best Championship betting sites, such as those mentioned on this page, also allow you to bet on outright markets. These are wagers on the final outcomes of this championship, and therefore are paid at the end of a longer period: the most played types of bets in this category are League Winner, Last Place, and Top Goalscorer. Let’s look at them in detail and see some stats.
League Winner
Betting on the League Winner of the Championship is not easy, but it’s certainly very intriguing. In addition to the honor of winning a championship that is still prestigious and challenging, the league winner also has the privilege of being promoted directly to the Premier League without playoffs.
The difficulty of this market lies in the fact that bettors are often misled by famous names of former Premier League teams, without first looking at the squads of the teams at the start of the season. In 2020/21, however, Norwich City won the tournament—a team well-known for their frequent promotions to the Premier League.
Last Place
Betting on the Last Place market in the second division of English football is moderately difficult. However, given the abundance of news and statistics available on the Championship, it is possible to try to craft a realistic prediction about the team that will have a disastrous season and be directly relegated to League One.
Unlike Italy’s Serie B, this league features 24 teams. Betting on the last place thus means predicting which team will finish twenty-fourth. This means that this team will have had a truly nightmarish season, like Sheffield Wednesday in 2020/21, who finished last with 41 points, partly due to a -6 point penalty.
Top Goalscorer
Betting on who will be crowned top goalscorer of the Championship? Of course you can! The English certainly don’t need to be convinced to try such a bet. But we can give it a shot too, since some of the strikers playing in the English second division are well-known and have a reputation even beyond the close circle of English football enthusiasts.
Take for example Ivan Toney, top scorer in the 2020/21 season: the English striker won the scoring chart with Brentford (later promoted to the Premier League through the playoffs) with 31 goals, succeeding Mitrovic and Teemu Pukki in the honors list—the Finnish forward also well-known to Italian fans.
Let’s try to win: strategies for betting on the Championship
Now that we know more about the tournament’s characteristics, we can try to build strategies to beat the Championship bookmakers. As we already mentioned, keeping statistics at hand can really be the winning card: as is well known, the English are crazy about numbers, so it’s not hard to find updated data on this league.
Another piece of advice we’d like to give is to stay up to date with the latest news from this championship. There are several specialized websites to consult—mostly in English—to find out which teams are the surprises and which players to keep an eye on. Lastly, don’t take for granted that a top-of-the-table team will easily beat one from the bottom: as mentioned, many of the teams in this tournament are highly competitive.
The ID card of the EFL Championship
| Name: | EFL Championship |
| Location: | London |
| First edition: | 1892 (2004 with current name) |
| Participating teams: | 24 |
| Format: | Round-robin + play-offs |
| 2021 edition duration: | August – May |
| Most successful clubs: | Manchester City and Leicester City (7) |
The English Football League Championship is the league that represents the second level of English football after the Premier League. It’s a very competitive and wealthy tournament: according to recent stats, it is the richest second division in Europe and one of the most followed overall. After all, the participating teams are often prestigious and have substantial budgets, and it’s no surprise that the two most successful clubs are Manchester City and Leicester City, with 7 titles each.
It was founded way back in 1892 under the name Second Division, making it older than many other European leagues. At the time, the tournament hosted 16 teams, which grew to 22 in 1920 when the relegation of the bottom two teams to the Third Division was introduced. In 1988, a league reform brought the tournament to 24 teams and introduced the promotion play-offs.
The format has remained almost unchanged to this day: the top two teams are automatically promoted to the Premier League, while the teams ranked third to sixth face off in semi-finals and a final play-off to secure the last available promotion. The bottom three teams are directly relegated to League One.
The teams participating in the tournament
Among the 24 teams competing in the English second division, there are true fallen giants and clubs with a history and tradition that many teams envy. In the following boxes, we have selected the five most representative clubs of the tournament—those that, for one reason or another, have shaped the league’s history and are still among the most followed. They can offer useful insights for your Championship bets.
- Fulham. Fulham is the oldest London club: it was founded in 1879 and has played its home games at Craven Cottage ever since. Europa League finalist in 2010, it returned to the Premier League in the 2019/20 season after a year in the second tier.
- Millwall. Millwall Football Club is certainly the roughest club in the Championship: based in London’s docklands area, it is famous for its feared hooligans, who have even inspired some well-known films.
- Leeds United. Leeds United is perhaps the club with the most fans in the Championship. It has won three Premier Leagues, one FA Cup, and reached the final of the Champions League (1975) and Cup Winners’ Cup (1973). It recently returned to the top flight after difficult years.
- Nottingham Forest. Founded in 1865, Nottingham Forest is the third oldest football club in the world. Its trophy cabinet includes one Premier League, 2 FA Cups, 2 Champions Leagues, and 1 UEFA Super Cup. It hasn’t played in the Premier League since 1999.
Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn Rovers is another fallen giant: founded in 1875 in Blackburn, Lancashire, it has won 3 English league titles and 6 FA Cups. It has played at Ewood Park since 1890.
The best way to experience the charm and tradition of the tournament like a pro
We’ve reached the end of this extensive review dedicated to betting on the English Championship. Throughout the previous paragraphs, we discovered the best bookmakers for betting on this league and analyzed some key bet types along with their statistics. After exploring useful strategies, we focused on the stars of the tournament: the most traditional teams and the players to watch. Now all that’s left is to get ready, choose the most suitable operator, and bet like real experts.
FAQ
What are the best betting sites for the Championship?
Among the best international bookmakers for betting on the Championship are operators like 7Signs, 20Bet, Fezbet, and Playzilla, which offer competitive odds, welcome bonuses, and good coverage of the league, including in live mode.
What tips are useful for betting on the Championship?
Those who want to bet on the second division of English football should follow some essential strategies: analyze up-to-date statistics, follow specialized English-language websites, stay informed on the form of teams and players, and never take anything for granted, given the frequent surprises in the tournament.
What are the most popular outright markets for the Championship?
The most popular outright markets include betting on the team that will win the league, promotion to the Premier League, and relegation. These are long-term bets that allow you to make use of an analysis of the entire season calendar.
Which teams should you bet on in the Championship?
We can’t name one specific team, but in the guide we included an overview of the most representative and historic teams in the league, which are worth considering for your bets.
