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Football Closes In on Racing
OLBG, the sports tipster community, has revealed that its members posted 2,525,593 tips across the 12 months to 17 September 2026, covering 125,758 sporting events, 22 sports and 92 markets.
The year's activity came from 3,451 tipsters, with 948,262 tips resulting in a win. Every tip was tracked through to settlement, providing a detailed picture of how the community's tipping activity changed across the sporting calendar.
One of the clearest trends from the year was the changing balance between football and horse racing. Football accounted for 31.7% of all tips posted, up from 29.6% in the previous 12-month period, while horse racing fell from 34.6% to 31.9%.
| Sport | This year | Previous year | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Football | 31.7% | 29.6% | +2.1 pts |
| Horse racing | 31.9% | 34.6% | -2.7 pts |
That represents a 4.7 percentage-point narrowing in the gap between the two sports, with football now accounting for almost one in every three tips posted by the OLBG community.
The increase coincides with a World Cup year, which took place in the summer of 2026 and provided tipsters an additional focus with an extra 104 matches, including England's run to the semi-finals and eventual third-place finish - giving the community a full 12 months of high-profile football events to engage with.
Horse racing nevertheless remained the biggest individual category by volume, with the Daily Racing market accounting for 31.9% of all tips posted during the year.
Beyond the two biggest sports, tipster activity also increased its share across cricket, rugby league, ice hockey, Gaelic football, darts, motor racing and boxing, pointing to a broadening range of sporting interests across the community.
Finding Value Across the Markets
The data also provides an insight into the markets where OLBG tipsters recorded their strongest collective returns.
Using a standardised 10-point stake to allow comparisons between tipsters, Motor Racing's Podium Finish market produced a +5.2% return on stake from 3,100 settled tips - the strongest result among markets meeting the dataset's 2,000-tip threshold.
| Market | Return on stake |
|---|---|
| Motor Racing - Podium Finish | +5.2% |
| Darts - Leg Betting | +2.0% |
| Ice Hockey - Game Totals | -0.7% |
Football also produced some standout performances within individual competitions. In the Champions League, Full Time Result generated a +4.9% return on stake across 12,354 tips, while Total Goals returned +1.6% and Result and BTTS returned +1.8%.
The Big Calls That Came Off
The year produced some spectacular individual tipping calls.
The longest successful-priced tip was a 200/1 selection on Freddie Steady Go at Carlisle, posted on 18 May 2026.
This year also saw several successful 150/1 correct-score selections, including Marseille to beat Le Havre 6-2, PSG to beat Tottenham 5-3, and Brazil to beat Panama 6-2.
The biggest individual return came from a 500-point tip on Union Santa Fe to be ahead at half-time and win against Central Cordoba, returning 45,000 points.
BristolTips Leads the Tipster Table
At individual tipster level, BristolTips finished the year at the top of OLBG's performance table after settling 6,888 tips, recording a 26.0% strike rate and generating 12,070 points of profit to a flat 10-point stake.
Niffler and ewanvrs followed with profits of 3,544 and 3,472 points respectively, while Knottlast recorded the highest strike rate among the top four at 37.4%.
The rankings use a flat 10-point stake across settled tips and require a minimum of 200 settled tips, allowing tipsters with very different numbers of selections and staking strategies to be compared on the same basis.
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A Year of Changing Sporting Interests
With more than 2.5 million tips posted across the year, the data provides a snapshot of what OLBG's community has been following across the sporting calendar.
While horse racing continues to account for the largest share of activity, football's growing proportion, alongside increased activity across a range of other sports, highlights the breadth of the community's tipping interests.
An OLBG spokesperson said:
"More than 2.5 million tips across 22 sports gives us a fascinating snapshot of what our community has been following over the past year. Football's continued growth is particularly interesting, with the sport now accounting for almost a third of all tips posted, while we're also seeing strong engagement across a much broader range of sports and markets.
"It's also great to see the depth of expertise within the community reflected in some of the standout calls, from 200/1 winners to major individual returns. The scale and variety of the tipping activity demonstrates just how much insight and opinion our members contribute throughout the sporting calendar, and we're looking forward to seeing how those trends develop over the year ahead."
