Shirt Numbers

Market Overview

Another popular set of spread bet markets is around Shirt Numbers. A range of markets are offered on major football games, an example of these is shown in image 1. We will look at the shirt numbers index bet which will help show you how the market prices are set and settled.

The shirt number index bet prices the total sum of the shirt numbers of each scoring player in a match. If you were to take the view that a game was going to be high scoring you would buy shirt numbers whereas if you felt the game was going to be a low scoring one you would sell shirt numbers.

As discussed image 1 shows the shirt numbers markets available in a Premier League game between Arsenal and Fulham. The shirt numbers index is priced at 35 – 38. If you took the view that a the shirt numbers would be high in the game you would buy at 38 for let’s suppose £2 per point, or if you expected lower scoring shirt numbers in the game you would sell at 35 for let’s suppose £2 a point.

Shirt Numbers Result

In this example the match finished as a 3-3 draw. The three goals came for Arsenal came from Giroud (number 12) who scored two and Podolski (number 9). Giroud’s squad number counts twice, once for each goal. The three goals came for Fulham came from Berbatov (number 9) who scored two and will again count twice, and Kacaniklic (number 31).

Profit and Loss

The total shirts of every goalscorer (12 + 12 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 31) adds up to 82. That translates into a £88 profit (£2 x (82 – 38)) if you were to have bought shirt numbers at 38. However if you had sold shirt numbers at 35 you would have lost £94 (£2 x (82 – 35)). The settlement at over double the price is an unusual result. Having six goals in the game meant there are six numbers to add together, and the fact strikers scored all the goals meant this was a high settlement. Furthermore Kacaniklic who wears 31 is not a regular first team player and came on after 24 minutes to cover an injury so his goal alone was almost enough to cover the market.

Key considerations

The shirt numbers market is potentially volatile with big swings in potential profit and loss possible given the nature of the bet. As demonstrated above if a player with a high scoring shirt number scores in a one goal game this could pay out more than if three or even four players with low shirt numbers score. Some games will involve squad players who have a high numbers for their shirt number, or players who have chosen a high number by choice, while other teams may field players with the conventional 1 – 11 shirt numbers. The starting eleven shirt numbers on each team, likely substitute shirt numbers and the overall likelihood of goals are all important considerations.

Stop Loss

For the shirt numbers index market a stop loss of 100 minutes will apply either side of the opening price. So in the example above when selling at 35 any minute reached over 135 would be discounted. Similar to the multi-corners market, the shirt numbers index will very rarely have an opening price of 100 or more, which means when buying the stop loss will not apply.