Sporting Index UK Review - Is It Safe or a Scam? (2024)
Sporting Index was the first spread betting sportsbook to launch online, established back in 2001, and the site has since been acquired by the former rival Spreadex. Using the same platform as the latter, some might have questions about the 'new' Sporting Index. Therefore, in this review, we will discuss everything you need to know about the site.
Sporting Index offers
Sporting Index Overall Score
| Bonus | 8 |
|---|---|
| Sportsbook | 9 |
| Customer Support | 8 |
| Payment | 6 |
| Licensing Safety | 8 |
| Design and Usability | 7 |
| Overall | 7 |
Owned by Spreadex, following a takeover in 2023, punters can expect a high standard on Sporting Index with a comprehensive sportsbook, a good betting app and decent customer support. However, the takeover hasn't just been for Sporting Index as the site now feels rather redundant. Indeed, it is battling for its spot on the market.
With a worse welcome offer, no casino section and the same platform, it is hard to see why anyone would pick Sporting Index over Spreadex. Both of these sites also struggle with a lack of payment methods, as well as promotions that are not anything special. In short, the sportsbook is impressive - both for spread betting and fixed odds - but Sporting Index is not as strong as its sister site.
About Sporting Index
Sporting Index was established in 2001, becoming the first online spread betting site, and has since gone from strength to strength. The former competitor Spreadex (which we will discuss more below) was launched two years earlier, but it took the brand a lot longer to launch online. Sporting Index, therefore, is an important piece of history.
The site added a casino (since discontinued) and virtual games to its roster in 2004, but spread betting has been and remains the core of the operations. Interestingly, at the end of 2023, Sporting Index was acquired by the rival Spreadex for an undisclosed fee. That is why the two sites now share the same platform, with the same design as well albeit with slightly different colours.
Although a lot of the features, which we discussed in our review of Spreadex, are the same, some punters might still have questions about Sporting Index. Therefore, in this review, we take a look at everything you need to know about the site. We also highlight the pros and cons, so that you can make an informed decision about whether to sign up or not. First of all, however, you might want to check out how spread betting works.
Is Sporting Index Safe?
Sporting Index is owned by Sporting Index Limited, which is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission in the UK. That company, in turn, is owned by the Spreadex group which has a very good reputation among punters. In short, it is considered safe to sign up on the Sporting Index site, although the licence is not always a guarantee for high quality.
Granted that a lot has changed with the sale to Spreadex, and very recently as well, the Trustpilot rating of 2.3 out of five stars should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. A lot of poor reviews have been left recently, though, with most complaining about the verification process. This is a common issue even for some of the biggest betting sites in the UK, it should be noted.
Sporting Index Welcome Offer
There is a solid welcome offer for new customers at Sporting Index to claim, namely a bet £10 get £20 deal. It is not as good as Spreadex's, offering a bet £10 get £40 deal, but it is certainly solid. To qualify, customers need to place a fixed odds bet £10+ bet at a minimum odds of 1/2 (1.50). This must also be placed before the event in question starts.
Once the qualifying bet has been settled, 2x £10 free bets will be credited: the first immediately and the second on the following day. These can be used on fixed odds markets and not spread bets, it should be noted. The free bet stakes will not be returned with potential winnings, as you would expect, and they have a generous expiration of 28 days.
As already stated, it is not the best welcome offer in the UK, but it will suffice for most punters. It could even be worth signing up on the site just for the offer.
Sporting Index Promotions
If the welcome offer was different, the same cannot be said for the promotions as they are exactly the same when comparing Sporting Index and Spreadex. Football punters can boost their acca winnings by up to 75%, with 16 selections needed for the maximum, and there is also a general free bets club of sorts. We found that the latter was far from ideal, though, with three qualifying bets within just 10 minutes needed.
Best odds guaranteed, which is a classic promotion for horse racing, shines with its absence in the promotions section. On the other hand, Sporting Index does pay out first past the post, which is a plus, and there is also an insurance if your backed horse loses a winner with odds of 33/1 or higher (starting price). The stake will then be refunded as a free bet up to £25.
We would have liked to see some more, though, especially considering all of the good promotions around these days. This was also the case for Spreadex so it is something that the parent company will have to work on. Preserving existing customers is key and promotions are a great way to do just that.
Sporting Index Deposits
The site certainly has some work to do when it comes to payment methods. While a lot of betting sites offer a plethora of methods, from e-wallets such as PayPal to convenient mobile options such as Apple Pay, Sporting Index only accepts deposits via debit card and bank transfer. This is certainly not good enough, even though some punters only deposit with a debit card anyway.
Even just adding one e-wallet could make a huge difference for Sporting Index. As you may have guessed, Spreadex has the same issue and it is actually the takeover that caused this on Sporting Index, which used to offer Neteller and Skrill before. Below, we have collected everything you need to know about deposits at Sporting Index. Although in fairness, there is not much to collect.
| Payment Method | Min. Limit | Max. Limit | Transaction Fee | Processing Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Visa
| £10 | Not specified | No fee | Instant |
Mastercard
| £10 | Not specified | No fee | Instant |
Bank Transfer
| £10 | Not specified | No fee | Instant |
How to deposit at Sporting Index
- Make sure you are logged in to your Sporting Index account
- Tap on 'My Account' in the top-right corner and then on 'Deposit'
- Choose your preferred payment method and enter the relevant details
- Tap on 'Register Card' to save the method, if it is the first time
- Choose the sportsbook (spread or fixed odds) and enter the amount
- Tap on 'Submit' to complete the process
Sporting Index Withdrawal
The situation is no better for withdrawal, with the same duo of payment methods to choose between. Most punters have become used to bookmakers with fast withdrawals and Sporting Index certainly lags behind on that front. As said, even just adding one e-wallet could make a very big difference, or even the banking option Trustly.
On the other hand, the minimum withdrawal amount is set at just £1 and this is something that Sporting Index deserves praise for. The caveat is that if you have £50 or less in your account, this must be withdrawn in one go. Below, we have collected everything you need to know about withdrawing funds from Sporting Index:
| Payment Method | Min. Limit | Max. Limit | Transaction Fee | Processing Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Visa
| £1 | Not specified | No fee | 1-3 business days |
|
Mastercard
| £1 | Not specified | No fee | 1-3 business days |
|
Bank Transfer
| £1 | Not specified | No fee | 2-5 business days |
How to Withdraw at Sporting Index
- Make sure you are logged in to your Spreadex account
- Tap on 'My Account' in the top-right corner
- Tap on 'Withdraw Funds' in the drop-down menu
- Choose your payment method and enter the amount
- Tap on 'Next' to confirm the request
How to Verify an Account at Sporting Index
It might be frustrating as a punter, but all of the betting sites that are regulated by the Gambling Commission must confirm the identity of their customers. As already mentioned in the 'Is Sporting Index Safe?' section, this is indeed something that a lot of customers have complained about. When registering an account, you may be asked to upload one or both of the following:
- Proof of ID: Photographic ID, such as a copy of your passport or driving licence.
- Proof of Address: A recent utility bill or bank statement.
Sporting Index aims to complete the verification without these, using the information provided during the registration, but you will be contacted if more documents are needed. It is important to comply with this process, no matter how tedious it may be, as failure to do so could result in an account suspension.
Sporting Index Sportsbook
Punters who sign up at Sporting Index will find that there are just over 20 different sports to bet on. This does not sound like a lot, and it is much less than other UK bookmakers, but the difference is that Sporting Index offers spread betting for these sports. Therefore, the selection is actually rather impressive.
Taking a game in the Premier League and its odds as a reference, Sporting Index has an impressive 500-600 markets on offer, both for spread and fixed odds betting. This is up there with the best football bookies and there is also a decent bet builder, albeit not among the best bet builders. Overall, the football offering is good enough for dedicated punters.
Horse racing is another popular sport in the UK and Sporting Index offers meetings from all over the world. In particular, we were impressed by the ante-post betting markets selection on the site. Live streaming is also available for almost all games, but we could not find any information about best odds guaranteed. The latter is a big disadvantage.
Concluding the racing, there is also a good section for betting on greyhound racing. Tennis is another one of the big sports on Sporting Index, with fairly decent depth, but not enough to compete with the best tennis bookies. As for the minor sports, although the depth is not always great, Sporting Index deserves praise for offering spread betting for these.
Taking a look at the betting margins, Sporting Index averaged 6.79% in our test based on the fixed odds. This is higher than the best scores out there and punters will likely find better value with the spread betting. It would have been nice to see some good margins with the fixed odds too, though.
Special markets have become increasingly popular and Sporting Index customers, for example, can place bets on the next Eurovision winner and the next UK General Election. Similarly to special markets, Esports betting options have increased tremendously in recent years and Sporting Index offers games such as Dota 2 and CS.
Overall, therefore, the sportsbook at Spreadex is fairly comprehensive, especially since most will be there for the spread betting anyway. The design is also fairly decent, even if the spread betting options can sometimes make it look busy.
| Football Markets (Premier League Game) | 500-600 |
|---|---|
| Betting Margins (Average) | 6.79% |
| Horse Racing Coverage (Countries) | UK & Ireland + International |
Sporting Index Casino
Unlike Spreadex, Sporting Index does not offer a casino for the time being. It is possible that it could be added through the ownership of Spreadex, but this is all speculation for now.
Sporting Index Mobile App
Most punters tend to bet on an app these days, given the convenience as well as speed, and following the trend is thus crucial for betting sites. Sporting Index has done exactly this, offering an app for both iOS and Android devices. This has also been revamped since the takeover of Spreadex, with both apps now sharing the same design.
On the App Store and the Google Play Store respectively, the app has a rating of 4.4 and 3.1 out of five stars. This is an okay score, although the Android one is not great, and perhaps it just misses out on the best betting apps list. Then again, it is nice to see that an app is even offered. To download it, simply head over to your app store and search for 'Sporting Index'. The blue logo should then pop up.
Sporting Index Responsible Gamgling
It has become increasingly important for betting sites in the UK to focus on responsible gambling, with the Gambling Commission issuing hefty fines for social responsibility failures. Experienced punters will know that there are quite a few different tools for gambling responsibly, such as limits of various kinds, and Sporting Index is covered on this front:
- Deposit limits (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Timeouts
- Self-Exclusion
- And more
Deposit limits are a great place to start, forcing you to reflect on your betting habits and also to set strict boundaries. There is a 'Responsible Gambling' page on Sporting Index, where customers can find information about all of the tools, as well as contact details for some third-party organisations. Overall, the site gets a pass on this front.
Sporting Index Customer Support
Customer support can sometimes be a problem for UK punters, especially on new betting sites, but Sporting Index has been around for a long time and this shows. The support is now handled by Spreadex, it should be noted, but that is not necessarily a bad thing as live chat, email and telephone are offered as contact options for customers.
Unfortunately, the support is not available 24/7 and this could be a problem for some. For a majority of the customers, however, this will likely not be a problem at all as the opening hours are 07:30-22:00. Live chat is bound to be the most popular option but as always, it is good to know that there are more options available.
The FAQ page will answer most queries, but we found that this was not as comprehensive as you perhaps would have liked. Furthermore, it is not the easiest to navigate, severely lacking design-wise compared to the other big bookmakers in the UK. Below, we have collected all the details about the customer support at Spoting Indec.
| Chat | Yes |
|---|---|
| info@sportingindex.com | |
| Phone | 0208 1454 080 |
Opening hours
| 7 days a week | 07:30-22:00 |
|---|
How to Get Started at Sporting Index
If you are looking to create an account at Sporting Index, you can follow our step-by-step guide on how to do so below:
Head Over to Sporting Index and Tap on ‘Join Here'
You can use our link at the top of this page, or the 'Visit' one in the bottom banner, which will bring you straight to the welcome offer and the registration process.
Enter Your Account Details
In the first step of the registration, you will need to enter your email address and choose your username, as well as password. You also need to provide your name at this point. Scroll down to continue once this is done.
Choose Your Country and Accept the T&Cs
In the second step of the registration, you will be asked to choose your country of residence and nationality. You also need to opt in/out of marketing messages, as well as accept the terms and conditions.
Enter Your Personal Information
In the third step of the registration, you need to enter your personal information such as date of birth, phone number and full address. Scroll down once you have done this to continue.
Set a Security Question and Tap on ‘Join Sporting Index'
Before you can tap on 'Join Sporting Index', thus completing the process, you need to choose a security question and answer.
User Reviews
jim
February 2, 2021
hell yeah.. never done this before but it taken me about 2 hours to understand it properly and im making good bets.. this is definitely a game ganger for me..
RICHard
January 9, 2020
A bit complicated but once you figure it out it really pays off
Allah
November 21, 2019
Is i like it very good win alot but not easy to understand sometime
Cory
November 11, 2019
Cool site i like it.
Tomtheboy
August 15, 2019
A bit to advanced for my taste
Lee
August 5, 2019
I have been using Sporting Index for several years now. I have never had any issues with withdrawing my money and their customer support has always been professional.If you want to try Spread betting (far better than fixed odds) this is the site.