Championship Betting Sites in the UK

So now you know what you will find on this page - here is how we put everything together to rank bookies.

• Competitive odds - If we see a betting site consistently doing well in odds comparisons on Championship markets, they get a good ranking.
• Mobile - We are punters too, and recognise the importance of having access to good betting platforms on the go.
• Market Variety - It's crucial, in our opinion, that a betting site has a deep market variety for Championship betting.
• Bonuses - Most of the time, welcome bonus offers for betting sites take centre stage. While we rate those, we also examine long-standing offers for existing customers.
• Payment Options - We look at various payment options and processing times for both deposits and withdrawals.

Those are just some of the key areas we assess, but our research is certainly not limited to just those. We also consider other factors like security, licensing, user experience, reputation and more.

How do we check? 

We dig into the betting sites by opening accounts, claiming bonuses and going through the steps of making a bet, all to the point of withdrawing winnings.

That way, we know a site inside out. With our previous bookmaking experience at MansionBet, we do the work to find out what things are really like from a punter's perspective.

After explaining what we do, here are some of the best Championship betting sites based on our research.

Having looked at some of the best Championship betting sites, the next thing to examine is how to a bet on the league.

This mini-guide will walk through some of the simple steps.

• Sign Up - Pick a recommended betting site and register.
• Welcome Bonus - Check for any welcome bonus offers. That’s because they come with T&Cs involving things like a deposit minimum.
• Make a Payment - Add some money to your new account - most deposits should be instant.
• Sportsbook - Look at the sportsbook for the Championship betting markets. Make your pre-match and even in-play selections.
• Stake - Enter a stake in the bet slip (double-check everything at this point) and place the bet.

Before getting deeper into some key areas of safely doing Championship betting, we first want to run through a couple of things.

Is it legal to bet on the Championship? 

At MansionBet, we see this question a lot. Questioning security and safety is excellent. Is it legal to bet on Championship football? Yes. But only ever bet at sites regulated and licensed by the Gambling Commission.

Contacting Customer Support?

You may never need it, but just in case you hit a snag, know when and how you can get a hold of customer service. A live chat is usually the best way.

Let's dig deeper into how to bet on the Championship, and one of our main areas of focus is betting variety.

Here are some of the most popular betting markets and bet types:

• Match Outright - We would recommend that newcomers to Championship betting start here. Picking one of the three possible outcomes in a football match gives a good grounding.
• Over/Under 2.5 Goals - This is another straightforward betting area to look at. It should sharpen your stats-reading skills too. How likely is a match to finish with more or less than three goals scored?
• Both Teams To Score - Not a market that's going to give mind-blowing odds, but it's a good one to look at. That's because you don't have to worry about the result of the match - you just need both sides to grab at least a goal each.
• League Winner/Relegation - Look for long-term bets. It's a good angle for punters looking for longer odds on Championship betting.

Other recommended markets are Anytime Goalscorer, Double Chance and Winning Margins.

Betting Types

Next, we take a look at some popular bet types. Again, we recommended keeping things simple.

• Win Single - You can't get more straightforward than picking one bet for one particular outcome, such as on a Championship team to win their match.
• Accas - Very tricky to pull off as you need every selection to win, but the benefit is that a Championship Acca only needs a small stake to land a big win.
• Each Way - Each-way betting is ideal on long-term markets such as the Championship outright winner. 

The great thing about Championship football betting is that there are plenty of choices so that you can find your preferences over time.

 What are betting odds? They are simply the bookmaker's perception of implied probability.

Not counting bookmaker margin, an Even money (1/1) odds quote represents a 50% chance of a particular outcome.

The prices you see at a sports betting site is just what the traders think. That line gets blurred because the odds will shorten, for example, if many people start throwing money at a particular selection.

It's worth fully understanding odds and not just looking at the numbers on the screen and randomly making bets.

If you sign up with one Championship betting site, you will not get the best odds out there on every single bet you make.

But you can align yourself with a recommended bookmaker that has ranked well for providing consistently competitive football odds.

Part of that is considered when we rank the best Championship betting sites we research.

The other thing you can do for yourself is shop around. Most punters will, or at least should, do this. Compare market odds between different bookies and snap up the best you can find.

There will be differences, even subtle better ones if you cast your net a little wider.

With an excellent secure betting site and strong competitive odds, what else will you want to look for?

We rate features highly at betting sites, and, in our opinion, the more we come across to enhance our betting, the better. 

Let’s look at a few here.

• Live Streaming - One of the top features out there. It’s a joy to look at live in-play betting markets and see that a betting site is also streaming something. You marry the two together for a great experience.
• Bet Builders - The bet builder has grown in popularity and frequency. We don’t think they should be an absolute staple, but tinkering with a customised bet now and again, offers a nice aside when watching a specific match.
• Cash Out - This should be available both pre-match and on in-play bets. It’s one thing that has become so ingrained in online sports betting that we’d feel lost without it. In addition, Full and Partial Cash Outs afford a lot of control over bets.
• Security - This is the most important of the lot. Any security features on the site, like encryption to protect your personal information and financial transactions, must be in place.

 We now shift gears to look at Championship betting promotions. We’ll take a tour through both the best welcome bonuses and other offer types for existing customers.

A welcome bonus should be relatively straightforward to get. Most of them, like bet365’s Bet £10 Get £50 in Free Bets sign-up bonus, will be based on your first deposit and first bet.

For reference, bet365’s sign-up offer is one of the more generous ones out there, so it’s worth checking out. This format of free bets being credited after your first bet is settled is very common.

The value of welcome bonuses at Championship betting sites will vary. Therefore, they shouldn’t be treated as a deciding factor about whether to use a site or not.

There’s better value always to be found at Championship betting sites with promotions that you can use more than once.

bet365 again comes in strongly here for Championship Betting, with their 2 Goals Ahead Early Payout, where they settle the bet as a winner if your selection goes two goals ahead at any point in the match, no matter the final result.

888sport offers a fantastic 4/1 Win Bonus, where they will give you a free bet credit for landing a winning bet at 4/1 odds or greater on any sport - perfect for utilising on Championship betting.

One of our favourite sites for Acca insurance is Boylesports, but they also offer an Acca Loyalty. In addition, they credit a free bet for every five qualifying Accas, so if footie Accas are your thing, Boylesports is the place to be.

Always look around to see if there is a promotion to pair up with your betting selection.

 Betting sites do generally offer punters a good range of deposit methods. However, not all offer the same ones, so it is worth checking out first.

A debit card is one of the most popular methods of funding an account at a betting site. But unfortunately, UK players can’t use credit cards to make payments.

Naturally, you will want to look for your preferred deposit method. So, if you are set on using PayPal, check whether the betting site offers that.

• Debit Cards
• PayPal
• Skrill
• NETeller
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Bank Transfer
• Trustly

Another consideration that you will want to size up first is processing times and fees. It is unlikely that the betting site will charge, while beside a bank transfer, most deposit methods should be instant.

Payouts

After you have banked some winnings in your account from your Championship football betting, how do you get it out?

Payouts from betting sites generally take longer than deposits. Some do offer rapid withdrawals, however, which are worth looking into.

Generally, you will want to allow between 1-5 business days for a standard withdrawal to be fully processed and reach you. 

Again, betting sites likely won’t charge a fee. However, it’s common for betting sites to have a minimum £10 deposit amount and a £10 minimum withdrawal amount.

But look through the FAQs on a particular site to double-check everything first. Just so there are no surprises.

It is worth piecing together a betting strategy. It doesn't have to be anything big and complicated where you spend five hours crunching a bunch of numbers before making a bet.

Betting strategies can be simple. It may be three picks at Under 1.5 goals or something straightforward like that.

Still, you will have to study some form and stats to make the picks in the first place. It's worth doing.

The more time you take to study a league, the more familiarity you will have with Championship betting trends.

A betting strategy will also help you manage your bankroll, another critical aspect of betting.

Betting Tips 

We always like to recommend that punters keep on the simple side of Championship football betting.

There's nothing wrong with simply shopping around for the best price on an outright market.

Read as much team news, statistical input and anything else you can absorb ahead of a match. Knowledge is power, as they say.

Don't be afraid to read free betting tips that are around either. You don't have to follow them, but they can be beneficial for picking up titbits of info.

What To Avoid

The thing to avoid with Championship betting is making selections based on the odds alone.

If a home team is 2/1, that doesn’t make them suddenly a great pick, even though the price is attractive.

Look at the form and understand why they are that price. Don’t just wade in blindly.

Avoid markets like First Goalscorer and Correct Score. Markets like that have very appealing odds, but that is only because they have a high number of variables. 

 You can jump on different devices to get your Championship bets down. The key is that you won’t want any stress in switching between other platforms.

We do feel that mobile betting apps are the way to go. But, again, that’s from a security, convenience and data standpoint.

Surprisingly betting apps are not available at all betting sites you come across, but most of the major ones, such as bet365, 10bet and 888sport, do deliver excellently on this front.

What are you primarily looking for in a mobile betting app? The same service that you would get on a desktop. This goes back to our original point.

It would be a poor show if you had access to live streams, for example, on a desktop, but on switching to the mobile app, it disappeared.

Mobile betting apps shouldn’t miss a beat with anything, from promotions to account management and more - an app should carry all those essential features.

The Championship is the second tier in English football, and it was introduced at the start of the 2004/05 season.

When the Premier League era started in the early '90s, it replaced the old English First Division. So, in turn, the second tier became known as the Football League First Division before changing to the Championship in 2004.

The first-ever winners of the Championship were Sunderland, who were promoted along with Wigan and West Ham up to the top flight.

Even though it doesn't have top-flight status, the Championship is still one of the biggest leagues in Europe.

There are only eight other richer divisions across Europe in terms of financial might than the Championship.

It currently boasts 24 teams, with two automatic promotion spots to the Premier League, one other promotion spot via the playoffs, and three relegation places.

There's a total of 552 matches played during a regular Championship season.

The Championship then makes up part of the main four English tiers. Along with the Premier League, other popular leagues on the domestic front for football betting are League One and League Two.

For the famous domestic trophies, nothing beats the FA Cup with its rich history, while the EFL Cup plays second fiddle to that and is not always a competition in which bigger teams put too much emphasis.

On a broader front for football betting, the other main European leagues are:

• Spain's La Liga,
• Germany's Bundesliga,
• Italy's Serie A 
• France's Ligue 1.

Teams from the "Big 5" make up the bulk of the UEFA Champions League - the former European Cup - the biggest continental club competition.

Beyond that, there are international tournaments like the UEFA Nations League, the Copa America and the most famous football competition in the world, the FIFA World Cup.

We recommend looking at any of the mentioned bookmakers on this page for Championship betting.

That will you give you premier-quality betting on the English second tier. Our experts have sourced the betting sites with the most competitive odds, the best features, the best mobile betting experiences and more.

The Championship is a thrilling league, which is notoriously difficult to get promoted from. However, it’s considered far wider open and more competitive than the Premier League.

So, for the best Championship action and all the fantastic betting opportunities it provides during a season, get involved at one of our recommended bookmakers.