*New clients only. Applies to first 5 x £25 Spreads bets on pre-match markets. 100% cashback on net losses upon settlement of fifth qualifying bet. Qualifying bets must be settled within 14 days of registration. Fully partially or reverse closed bets do not qualify. Maximum cashback £250. Full terms here. Spread betting involves risk. Losses can exceed deposits.
Updated: 29.07.2025
In fixed-odds sports betting, you can virtually have a wager whenever and wherever. This type of betting captures the most excitement and interest from the British public because, quite simply, fixed odds are the way bets have been placed for years. It is a joint topic of conversation in which the public shows an increasing interest. And it is even capturing more interest and excitement simply because of the way one can place a bet.
Many people, even many gamblers, don't know much about a specific form of betting that falls under the gambling umbrella: sports spread betting. This involves a riskier way of wagering than is done with the more familiar fixed-odds paradigm. But if we were to talk about celebrating this underappreciated vice rather than looking down on it, we could make a case for its being much more potentially lucrative than almost any other kind of betting.
This content piece will examine one of the large names in the world of sports spread betting—Sporting Index. Though they are one of the original pioneers in this area, they continue to do good business in the present day. We will take a look at what they have going on in terms of promotions, a betting menu, mobile product, and more. Ultimately, and very importantly, we will try to answer this question: Are they worth your time and money?
Joining Sporting Index is partly attractive because of the operator's bounteous welcome offer. New customers can lay claim to up to £250 in cashback on their net losses over the first few days of their account's existence. All you have to do is place 5x spread bets worth £25+ on pre-match markets; when the bets are settled, your account will be topped up with 100% cashback on net losses.
This unique offer does come with terms and conditions though, with the most important having been listed below:
Sporting Index's initial impact is excellent, courtesy of the 'New Account Offer.' But, even with the best of welcome offers, they don't last forever. So, ideally, I like to see a nice backup of either daily or weekly promos to complement the intro offer and keep the good times rolling.
In this space, Sporting Index really shines. As soon as you create an account, you are presented with four different top-notch promotions. Let's take a look at each of them one by one.
When you want to become a customer of Sport Index, they really would like you to sign up for spread betting. Fixed odds are somewhat of a dying breed these days, and for a bookie that prefers offering its customers spread betting as the favored method of obtaining wagering action, this is a huge deal for Sport Index.
When you sign up for an account at Sporting Index, they award you a complimentary bet worth £25. However, rather than simply receiving the token and being allowed to use it when you want, you have to fulfill some very manageable initial requirements before they let you loose with the free bet. To be precise, you have to place five bets worth at least £5 each on any of their sports markets that have odds of 1/2 (1.50) or greater. You must do this within 30 days of your sign-up date, or else the offer dies a quiet death. After you comply, the free £25 betting command is triggered and you must use it within seven days.
The simple 'Refer and Earn' scheme at Sporting Index works like this: get a friend to open an account with Sporting Index. They tell the account-opening staff your name and account details. You and your friend then go on to place three spread bets each. These needn't be any kind of bets that would raise suspicion; they just have to be the kind of bets a not-quite-earnest customer would place. They have to look normal. They have to sound normal. They have to resolve in absolutely no bombshells or surprises, which is pretty much the only way to guarantee that something placed with any bookmaker looks and sounds like a normal bet.
This is already quite appealing. But there are two ways to make it even more appealing. One is: Next, you can also win a prize for fixed odds betting. After your buddy signs up, if you and he place and settle a total of £50 in fixed odds bets at evens (2.0) or greater, you each get a £25 free bet.
The welcome offer has excellent value. After using the initial £75, you can access another £75, all for meeting a few very acceptable wagering requirements.
Almost always, such payout offers are a most welcome sight. They give you a way to realize some early profits in the football markets. Like other such offers, the one from Sporting Index pays out on your Full Time Result bet if the team you backed goes up by two clear goals at any point in the game. And even if they go on to draw or lose, you still get to keep your cash.
If the game you are wagering on is part of a larger accumulator, your selection will count as a winner within your acca. Even better, this offer applies to every single game in the Premier League.
This is an enticing and somewhat bizarre proposition that highlights the inventiveness of Sporting Index in formulating their agreements. Most soccer fans will know about the idea of Expected Goals, or 'xG'. In essence, it serves as a benchmark for figuring the hypothetical number of goals a team should have scored, compared to the real total they put in the net. And not only has Sporting Index made itself comfortable with this particular bit of analytical lingo, it's built an entire offering around it.
The Bad Beat Special concerns predetermined odds on Match Winner fixed wagers placed on certain matches (usually important Premier League ones). Naturally, the teams that win produce payouts that are as normal as can be. And when it comes to the bottom line, virtually all of the teams playing in the competitive international circuit commanded huge returns for their investors. Invest in a winning team, and a normal payout awaits you. However, if the team does not win the match but manages to 'win' in terms of xG, then that same bet counts as a push, and the bettor receives back their stake in the form of a free bet.
The spread betting found at sportsbooks that provide this sort of wagering is generally less voluminous than at traditional betting sites. This is not due to sportsbooks offering this type of betting being lazy. In fact, sportsbooks that offer spread betting do so intentionally, with a limited supply, because of the way spread betting works.
For Sporting Index, spread betting is their signature win, and – though their market reach isn’t all that wide – they reliably cover the biggest sports. These do include the ‘big two’ – football and horse racing – and are easily supplemented by sports like boxing, cricket, and golf. They also offer betting on rugby union, tennis, and even American league sports like the NFL and NBA. Spread betting is the signature win at Sporting Index.
Sporting Index's fixed odds section is fully featured and presents a much larger choice of markets. They cover around 30 different sports in total, some of which were mentioned earlier, like football and tennis, and others like Formula 1, darts, snooker, cycling, and athletics. One slight disappointment, though, is the absence of eSports from the lineup. This is a relatively new market, but when you look at how some other firms are embracing eSports and the rapid growth this market is experiencing, not having it covered is a bit of a letdown.
It has been observed that Sporting Index focuses intensely on spread betting rather than fixed odds. When it comes to explaining what spread betting is, it is most appropriately compared to the familiar Over/Under bets.
With Over/Unders, you get a result and must place a wager on whether the final outcome will be greater or less than that result. The most commonly cited example is Over/Under 2.5 Goals. Spread betting is similar to this and works off of the same principle. You get a starting point and are told to either ‘Buy’ it (bet on the over) or ‘Sell’ it (bet on the under). The key difference is that the starting point is not a single value but a range of outcomes—a spread.
Let us take Total Corners, for example. With fixed odds, you might back Over or Under 7.5 Corners. In spread betting, the range might be 7-9. If you think there will be more than 9 corners, you buy the market. If you think there will be fewer than 7, you sell it.
These certainly are more difficult wagers to win than those with fixed odds. The reason is simple: the possible payouts are so much better. And it's not just that the amounts can be, well, amazing; they can also change dramatically and for another reason too—from day to day and even moment to moment. When you place a wager on a game with a spread, you're really wagering on two (or more) comparisons that require you to think simultaneously about them in order to even have a prayer of winning your wager.
I purchased the Total Corners market's 7-9 spread, wagering £10 on it. The match was contested, and when it was over, 11 corners had been awarded. The final number of corners exceeded the upper limit of the spread by two; hence, I profited £20 (2 x £10). If the match had produced only four corners, I would have to report a £40 loss as a result of my wager on the aforementioned Total Corners market.
As the champion of online betting, it's hardly a surprise that football is a primary focus for Sporting Index. They offer both spread betting and fixed odds betting on the beautiful game, and their range of markets for both is superb, with the fixed odds, of course, having more options than the spread betting.
Certain you can stake a spread bet on something such as Total Goals, a team's Winning Margin, and Handicaps. As far as straight bets are concerned, they include all the usual categories.
You might also explore some of the more high-risk, high-reward markets, like Correct Score or the many player props on offer. Having such a varied selection of pre-match and in-play markets is a delight, coupled with the appropriate mix of spread betting and fixed odds. A typical scenario with Sky Bet is that there are dozens of live markets for every match, regardless of the nature of the contest itself, and the betting type variety doesn't seem to diminish much, if at all, when you compare the in-play experience to the pre-match one.
To sum up, we can happily state that Sporting Index delivers superb coverage of football right across the world. Naturally, all the big tournaments we know and love are there to be bet on, from the Premier League and Champions League to the Copa del Rey and Euros. They also include contests from South America, Africa, and Asia that we rarely hear about, serving up an almost limitless array of betting opportunities.
While not as popular as online betting for football, betting on horse racing still represents a massive marketplace. It was, therefore, pleasing to see it offered by Sporting Index for both spread and fixed odds betting.
A system that uses bases of points looks after spread betting. For instance, when a race has 12 competitors, the points awarded to the horses break down as follows: 50 points go to the first-place horse, 30 points to the second, and so on. You simply select a horse and decide whether to buy the pre-race points spread assigned to that horse or to sell it. As for fixed odds, you can make a Win bet or an Each Way bet, just as you would normally.
This coverage is impressive once again. Not only is it possible to place bets on all British and Irish races, but also on those of even more distant locales, such as France and the USA.
Tennis is extremely popular throughout the world; it appeals not just to the long-established base of sports fans but also to a vast burgeoning population of betting aficionados. This much is clear and has been clear for quite a while. The question, really, is why there was a time when the popularity of tennis with a betting audience hadn't quite hit home yet for betting purveyors.
Like the other excellent sports on this platform, an outstanding selection of both pre-match and in-play markets are offered. That’s the case not only for the sport’s marquee tournaments—for instance, the Wimbledon and the US Open—but also for the sport’s less well-known tour events. For the major tournaments, you can place bets to win months in advance and can even make each-way wagers (betting on a player to reach the final effectively).
Sporting Index places a huge emphasis on live betting, with the in-play markets being the first thing you see in both the spread betting and fixed odds sections. As we’ve said before, the coverage of live betting markets is staggering, usually reaching from the most prestigious events of each sport right down to their 'lower league' competitions.
From a mechanical standpoint, live betting works very well. Odds change all the time to show the latest events, and both placing and paying off live bets happened so smoothly and so quickly that we had zero problems.
Sporting Index offers apps for Android and iOS, easily accessible through the Google Play Store and the App Store. User reviews for the apps are limited, but we found the interfaces, with a few caveats, to be enjoyable.
Like the desk version, the setup on the app is pretty simple but achieves the desired effect. You can toggle between spread betting and fixed odds at the top of your screen, then underneath that is a menu that scrolls through all the available sports. In the top-right corner of the screen is your account, and at the bottom, another menu that contains fairly vital sections like "Promotions" and "My Bets." When it comes to the actual placing of bets and the simple act of scrolling through markets, the app makes good use of the phrase "slow and steady wins the race." It's not slow enough to be a deal-breaker, but it could definitely use some improvement.
The mobile version of the main website follows a similar style but, in an odd way, does not have the bottom menu. Navigating through the site was generally straightforward, and we found that the pages tended to load more quickly on the mobile site than on the app.
Our Sporting Index review has been largely positive. We have found much to admire in this impressive betting brand. However, there is one area in which we believe it comes up short.
Every aspect of Sporting Index works smoothly and efficiently in terms of performance. However, when you think about what distinguishes it from other sportsbooks, there's really not much to say. It provides a very basic tool for visualizing odds, alongside a couple of not-so-great betting stats, which do an okay job of informing you about what’s happening with the events you’re betting on. But if you want to watch the actual matches live, you're out of luck. And if you want to partake in any of the classic features most products serve up, like a bet builder or stats you really care about, Sporting Index isn’t gonna help you with that.
Although we cannot say for sure if this is a 'feature,' we have to concede that the blog section on Sporting Index is quite remarkable. It updates frequently to cover all the major sports news and provides in-depth, interesting, and even genuinely useful statistical analysis that aids us in betting on all the upcoming matchups.
Betting platforms are increasingly user-friendly, and perhaps none more so than Sporting Index. They offer a straightforward registration process divided into three simple, well-explained steps. This clearly indicates that they are a platform designed for new users to have a no-hassle experience on the way to placing their first bet. Even if a user were to take their time and go through each individual step in the same way that one might if following a set of instructions, the entire process could not take more than ten minutes to complete. And there's a bit of good news associated with this, too: A user does not need to be physically present anywhere in order to complete the registration.
To kick off, head to the home page of Sporting Index and click on the 'Join Now' button that is located in the top-right corner. Doing this will take you to the most elementary part of registering for an account, which they call 'Personal Details'. Now, the very first thing you will be required to do is state what kind of account you want to make, either 'All (Spreads & Odds)' or 'Odds Only'. Next, you will be asked to fill in some rudimentary details about yourself, owing to the fact that they need to know who you are in order to let you place bets. This basic info consists of your name, your birth date, your email, and your main phone number.
The second stage is called ‘Account Details’. You will be asked to give additional information here, especially about your current job and your past with spread betting. You must also establish a password for your account first; then, you will agree to the main terms and conditions and decide on some marketing matters. Finally, hit the button that says 'Submit Registration.'
The third stage is called 'Confirmation,' but you don't have to do anything here. You're just given your account number and told that someone will be in touch soon to confirm the creation of your account.
A conventional fixed-odds sportsbook always requires you to demonstrate your identity, but this not the case with spread betting. You might never have to produce any identification when placing bets with Sporting Index, for example. Meanwhile, at fixed-odds bookmakers, they invariably ask you for ID when it comes time for you to collect your winnings, to ensure you are a real person and not a robot. It seems the betting industry operates under different norms of civility and good manners.
In fact, checks on newly arrived users are undertaken electronically by Sporting Index. They use the data you've given them at registration to perform these checks. Generally—you'd hope, anyway—they're able to confirm that the individual who signed up is actually the individual who indeed signed up. If, for any reason, they can't do this, they ask that you send them a couple of photos of the documents listed below. Documents You Might Have to Send Them: 1. A picture of you with your passport or some other form of ID. 2. A photo of a utility bill or bank statement that proves you live at the address you say you do.
Please understand that this pertains only to bettors based in Britain. Sporting Index extends a warm welcome to applicants from outside Britain, however, these individuals will have to confirm their identities and where they live before they can proceed any further.
Regrettably, this is another aspect where Sporting Index does not measure up. Their array of banking methods is so limited that it is almost nonexistent.
For making deposits and withdrawals, there is really only one option: debit card. You could pay by bank transfer, but only if you get customer service to set it up for you. The way it's set up, using the payment options almost looks like they want you to go into debt to bet on sports. If you do owe Sporting Index money, you can pay it using credit cards and cheques. Just not when you need to pay upfront to make the bet.
Across the industry, the standard is set for a minimum deposit amount of £10. Payments are processed almost instantaneously. The standard for minimum withdrawal amounts is also set at £10, and the usual time frame for that transaction to be completed is 3-5 business days.
Calling it stylish would be a stretch. But it's not exactly ugly, either. You could even say it's good enough to get by. The looks here are not what I would call a distraction, and with a sports betting site, that's not the worst case scenario. You focus on function, get what you came for, and get out. If the visuals don't grab you, at least they're not pushing you away. And that brings us to the site's primary function: placing bets.
There's simply no getting around it. When you first hit either the home page or the one for any given sport, you're presented with a lengthy table that stretches down the center of the screen and contains all the primary odds. And that's really all there is to it! The table is not only occupying a good chunk of real estate on the page, but it's also engineered to be read and understood easily, at no cost to its legibility or our comprehension of it.
This interface actually works very well in a mechanical sense. All the main sports categories are accessible right next to the menubar at the top of the screen. Getting to specific events and head-to-heads is smooth. The odds for each event, which have their own mini-section, are divided into impeccably collapsable sub-sections. Prices are plainly displayed. And placing spread and straight-bet wagers is so easy it's almost infuriating.
You might be disappointed in a couple of major areas with Sporting Index; however, one definite area where they shine is customer care. Their commitment seems to stem from some kind of old-school approach wherein doing right by the customer is prioritized over, I don't know, making the company run like a well-oiled machine. You can hit up customer service using the live chat icon conveniently placed in the top-right corner of the page, or you can reach out the ol' fashioned way with email, phone, and carrier pigeon. If you'd like to conduct your conversation in a manner more reminiscent of 1910 than 2010, you can even write the company a letter.
The assistance provided is second to none. Whole "Training Centre" is available that covers not just spread betting but also its application to almost all types of sports, betting on which one might do in the course of a year. An FAQ section, extending over several pages, covers in detail almost every conceivable question, in a manner that is exceptionally clear and straightforward.
Sporting Index, founded in 1992, might not be a recognizable name to many, but they have a very accomplished history. They started the first online spread betting service in 2001, which is already quite a feat. What's even more amazing is that they included the ability to cash out from bets at the very beginning. They also got in early on the whole mobile gambling thing, launching the UK's first mobile betting app in 2003.
Since that time, they have not only kept up with the required upgrades to both their desktop and mobile offerings but also kept up a commendable track record of adding new customers to them. More recently, they expanded their employee base and now count north of 300 among their ranks. London-based Sporting Index is fully licensed by both the Financial Conduct Authority and the UK Gambling Commission.
For over 20 years, the sports betting industry has been graced by the presence of Sporting Index, and this long-standing specialization in the field shows itself in several important ways.
The setup is plain and simple, and it’s made for usability. You can go to the markets and place your bets without a lot of effort. These markets are countless and almost too much to take in. Whether making spread or fixed odds bets, you are nearly overwhelmed with the variety and number of these markets. Another thing that deserves commendation: the customer service here is, at worst, very good and, at best, a beacon for others to follow.
There are certainly places where things could be improved. Options for payment methods are extremely limited, and we noted a general lack of those special features you'd expect from a brand this successful.
With that said, Sporting Index is still a wonderful choice all around. Their New Account Offer is also one of the best promotions for new customers we have seen in a while, and we enthusiastically recommend you take it and grab your free £75 in spread bets while the chance is still there.
