Rugby League Betting Sites in the UK 2024

2 September 2024

Scott Adler

Scott Adler

Pro punter

Scott Lang is a sports betting and strategy specialist with experience writing for a number of publications during a 20-year career. An expert in football and golf, Scott also has a passion for American sport, particularly the NBA and NFL.

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Michael Lee

Michael Lee

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Michael has worked in the sports betting industry for many years. Following football, horse racing and track and field athletics, he has covered the last three Olympic Games, World Cups and other major sporting events.

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Rugby League originated in 1895 when a spilt between two Rugby Union organisations in the UK led to a breakaway competition that evolved into the sport we know and love today. Rugby League is one of the most popular team sports in the UK and is also widely followed throughout the southern hemisphere in countries such as Australia and New Zealand. And the popularity of rugby league betting at home and abroad is also on the rise.

We’re here to provide some rugby league betting insights and also recommend the best sites for betting on rugby. We’ll explain exactly why the featured sites in this article have caught our eye and provide you with the information you need to make sure you are wagering at a sportsbook which meets your specific needs. So let’s get to it!

The Best Rugby League Bookies In the UK

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Betfred

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• Super League betting promotion
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New 18+ UK customers only. Register with SUMMER50 between 31/05/24 – 14/07/24. First bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get 3 x £10 in Sports Free Bets & 2 x £10 in Acca Free Bets within 10 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs apply.

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#ad • 18+ • New customer offer • Min deposit £10 with promo code: GET40 • A qualifying bet is a ‘real money’ stake of at least £10 using Bet Builder • Min odds 2/1 (3.0) • Free Bets credited upon qualifying bet settlement, expire after 3 days and valid for football markets only • Free Bet stakes not included in returns • Withdrawal restrictions, payment methods, country & full T&C’s apply.• BeGambleAware

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The Best Rugby League Betting Sites in the UK

Before we get into more detail, here’s a rundown of our ten best rugby league online betting sites:

1. Betfred – Early rugby league outright markets
2. 888sport – £5 free bet when you win a rugby league wager at 4/1 or bigger
3. 10Bet – Superb range of rugby league statistics
4. BoyleSports – Rugby league price boosts
5. VirginBet – £10 free bet available each week when you place two £10 Accas
6. BetVictor – BV Loyalty Club could reward you with a £25 free bet for betting on rugby league
7. Betway – Earn up to £15 in free bets every week when wagering on rugby league
8. LiveScoreBet – Pre-tournament odds available for the men’s & women’s Rugby League World Cups
9. QuinnBet – Rugby league Acca Insurance & Acca Boost

How We Rank the Best Rugby League Betting Sites

Finding the best rugby betting sites can seem like a difficult task, with so many sportsbooks out there that often seem indistinguishable from one another! However, if you follow a specific set of criteria when trying to decide which rugby betting site is best for you then you will find there are lots of differences between sites. And judging a sportsbook by picking from the criteria below that matter most to you will help you find one that meets your exact needs.

• Safety

UK punters are lucky in that British betting sites are regulated by one of the most highly respected governing bodies in the world, the UK Gambling Commission. All of the sites featured on this page are under the umbrella of the UKGC and we have also checked that each of them is doing all they can to protect customers’ sensitive information. You can trust all of the rugby league betting sites on this page. If safety is a big deal to you then you should head to the biggest and most well-established sites.

• Rugby League Markets

There are two things to remember when you are judging a sportsbook by its rugby league betting markets. The first is how many matches and markets are available worldwide and the second is when these markets are available to bet on.  A good sportsbook boasts a large range of Super League, NRL and Rugby World Cup betting markets. Top-rated sites should also offer ante-post markets on the winners of a wide variety of worldwide leagues, many months before the first ball is kicked.

• Existing Customer Deals

Rugby league betting promotions are exceptionally rare, but there are plenty of existing customer deals available that you can qualify for by placing rugby league wagers. The best sites offer deals where you will be rewarded with free bets for placing a certain number of accumulators each week.

• Special Features

Many rugby league betting sites offer useful features that can enhance your wagering experience. We suggest optiong for a site with a good selection of statistics relating to rugby league sides at home and abroad and results from worldwide leagues and tournaments such as the Rugby League World Cup. Solid rugby league betting websites will also often offer enhanced prices on certain rugby league markets.

Scott Adler

Finding Price Boosts

While new and existing customer promotions will always have a section devoted to them, you have to look a bit harder for special features. Price boosts may appear on the left-hand side of a sportsbook’s home page but even if they don’t, make sure you check the rugby league section as they may well be hiding there!

• Mobile App

Betting apps are now an intrinsic part of a sportsbook’s betting offering, as more and more punters are realising the benefits of betting using their smartphones or tablets. Knowing what to look for in a mobile betting app is hugely important but also very straightforward. You just need to find out how closely an app matches the desktop betting experience when it comes to things like features and range of markets. However, most important of all is how an app translates to the smaller screen and how easy it is to navigate.

• Cash Out

Being able to “cash out” your bet while a particular event is taking place is a useful tool if your wager is currently winning and you want to quit while you’re ahead for a lesser profit, rather than risk your bet going south in the latter stages! So any rugby league betting site you are considering should offer that service. Top-rated bookmakers will also offer partial cashouts, where you only cash out part of your stake and leave the rest on the bet till the final whistle has blown!

• Deposit Methods

Debit card deposits are the most common way to fund your UK betting account but punters are increasingly looking for alternate methods. Look for sites that accept PayPal, multiple eWallets, along with Apple Pay on mobile.

The Best Rugby League Betting Sites in the UK Reviewed

1. Betfred – Super League Sponsors Offer a Super Rugby League Betting Experience

As the headline sponsor of all three professional rugby league competitions in the UK, including the Super League, Betfred is doing a huge amount for the growth of the sport in this country. And with such high visibility when it comes to rugby league fans it’s no surprise that Betfred offers such a high-quality rugby league betting service.

They are the only site we found that features a promotion specifically relating to the Super League and the rugby league section of their betting blog is the best there is. Betfred also offers a wide range of price boosts ahead of the rugby league action at home and abroad. You can bet on the winner of the 2023 Super League, Championship and League 1, Challenge Cup and NRL, many months before kick-off. There’s a handy rugby league betting guide, a list of rugby league trending bets, and Betfred’s in-play rugby league betting is enhanced by a rugby live stream of certain matches.

2. 888sport – Excellent Range of Special Offers

They may be better known for their NFL betting features but 888sport is holding its own when it comes to wagering on another game with an oval ball! In-play betting is made all the more immersive thanks to 888sport’s live streaming of certain rugby league encounters. While novice rugby league bettors can benefit from numerous rugby league betting guides and a glossary explaining key terms from the A-defender to a Zam-buk!

The 888sport Acca Club encompasses rugby league bets, as does their unique offer where punters can earn a £5 free bet once a week if they secure a winning wager at odds of more than 4/1.

3. 10Bet – Best For Rugby League Statistics

Finding accurate statistics is a crucial component of research-based betting strategies. And while there are a great number of rugby league statistics available online, if you can save time by finding them at a rugby betting site then all the better! And 10Bet deserves its place in our top five thanks to an excellent range of statistics across numerous men’s and women’s rugby league competitions and tournaments worldwide. You can find recent results, head-to-head stats, previous league tables, team stats and much more at 10Bet, meaning they are a real one-stop-shop when it comes to rugby league betting.

The 10Bet new customer deal is also superb, offering a 50% bonus of up to £50. Furthermore, the 10Bet Acca Boost could reward punters with a cash bonus of up to £5,000. In-play betting is enhanced by the opportunity to fully or partially cash out certain rugby league wagers, and if all that wasn’t enough, the 10Bet betting app has also had a recent revamp!

4. BoyleSports – Superb All Round Rugby League Betting Service

One of the biggest and most well-known sportsbooks is also one of the best rugby betting sites we have come across, no matter which sport you are wagering on. And a large part of BoyleSport’s broad appeal is the number of special offers and features that span multiple sports. First of all, there are the Acca Boost and Acca Insurance offers, along with an Acca Club that will reward you with a free £5 bet for every five accumulators placed. There’s also an offer exclusive to BoyleXtra cardholders where you can earn a free £10 bet when you wager £50 in-shop or at an online rugby betting site.

BoyleSports also offers a huge number of price boosts across multiple sports, including rugby league. Furthermore, they have a strong in-play rugby league betting offering, including live streaming.

The Most Popular Rugby League Betting Markets

Ante-Post

Bets that are placed before the start of the season on the winners of a rugby league championship are called “Ante-post”. And the best rugby league betting sites such as Betfred will feature ante-post markets on worldwide leagues such as the Super League and NRL, as well as cup tournaments such as the Challenge Cup in the UK and the Rugby League World Cup.

Game Winner

The main market when it comes to individual match outcomes is the winner of a rugby league game. One team will always be the favourite and available at a lower price than the underdog. And while ties are very rare, they do happen occasionally and are always available at large odds. Check out 888sport for game-winner markets.

Total Game Points

Another popular market at sites such as 888Sports is the total points scored by both teams and the beauty of this market is that your bet can be a winner regardless of who wins the game. You can bet that the total points will be over or under a particular number set by the bookies, or select from a particular range at higher odds, such as 20-30 or 30-40 points.

Team Points Totals

You can also bet on team points totals being higher or lower than an amount set by the bookmakers. For example, you could wager on St Helens to score more or less than 28.5 points. Visit VirginBet for a good range of team totals markets.

First, Last & Anytime Try Scorers

The main player-related rugby league markets concern the scoring of tries, which is when a player grounds the ball in the opposition’s in-goal area. You can bet on a particular player to score the first or even the last try of the game, or to score at any time. The best thing about first and last try markets is that even if a player is fancied to score, their price will be higher if you bet on these very specific outcomes. And once again VirginBet leads the way when it comes to try scorer odds.

Scott Adler

Try Scorer Tactics

Betting on more than one player to score a try could be a profitable play, especially if you combine players at shorter odds with ones who are less fancied to score. And always look for any players outside the top two or three in the betting who have scored tries in their previous games, or even ones with excellent scoring records against their latest opponents!

Winning Margin

An extension of the handicap betting market (more on that below) is being able to bet on the winning margin enjoyed by either side. Generally, there are different “groups” of winning margins on offer, available at higher prices than the standard handicap market, such as Wigan Warriors to win by 1-12 points, 13-25 points or over 25 points. And Betway has a large selection of winning margin markets.

Half-Time / Full-Time

Similar to football betting, you can wager on the outcome of both halves as a combination bet. So you could bet on one side to be winning at both half-time and full-time, also known as the win/win market. Alternatively, there are win/draw, win/loss, loss/win, loss/draw and loss/loss markets. And BetVictor is particularly strong when it comes to half-time / full-time markets.

Special Bets

Often, rugby betting sites such as BoyleSports will set their own unique markets that you can bet on. Examples of this could be each team scoring one or more tries in each half, or a particular player scoring more than a certain number of points. In addition, certain bookies may offer special combination bets such as one player scoring the first try and another scoring at least two tries.

Rugby League Handicap Betting

Betting on the favourites in a rugby league matchup is never a bad idea, after all, they’re the favourites for a reason! However, the price of a favoured team will often be very skinny and you would have to bet big or combine a few wagers into a football-style accumulator to make it worth your while.

However, rugby league handicap betting provides a useful way to back the favourite, but at a higher price. And that’s because they are given a “handicap” they must overcome. Put simply, the main feature of handicap betting is that the underdog is given a certain number of imaginary points as a head start, and the favourite must win by more than that number of points for your bet to be a winner.

Let’s say the Parramatta Eels are playing the Penrith Panthers in the NRL. Penrith are favourites so the handicap market is Penrith -8.5. So if you bet on the Panthers with that handicap they would need to win by nine points or more for your bet to be a winner. Rugby league handicap also works both ways in that you can also back the Eels +8.5, which actually gives you two chances to win if they earn an outright victory or lose by less than eight points.

The Best Rugby League Offers For December 2024

There were no offers relating specifically to rugby league available at the time of writing this article, but here are the top three existing customer promotions that you can earn by betting on rugby league.

Getting The Best Rugby Betting Odds

It’s virtually impossible to guarantee that you will always get the best possible rugby league odds because there are so many sports betting sites out there. Odds comparison sites can certainly help but they don’t feature every sportsbook. What we will say though is that in our experience rugby betting odds don’t vary enormously between sites and if you are betting with small to medium stakes you can be confident that you aren’t missing out!

Generally speaking, the more established sportsbooks tend to offer the best odds. And don’t forget that many rugby league betting sites such as VirginBet, offer odds boosts, which are a useful way to nudge up your rugby betting odds and try and secure a bigger payout.

Top 3 Bookies For Rugby League Odds

• Betfred – Bet £10 Get £60 In Free Bets & Bonuses
• BetVictor – Bet £10 Get £30 In Free Bets + 100 Free Spins
• VirginBet – Bet £10 & Get £20 in Free Bets

Rugby League Live Streaming

Betting on a live rugby league game once it has started has become hugely popular, with punters enjoying the opportunity to use the information from a match to make potentially profitable in-play wagers. And the very best rugby league betting sites will also offer a rugby live stream so that punters can keep right up to date with events in a particular matchup and make effective live rugby betting decisions!

Top 3 Bookies For Rugby League Live Streaming

• Betfred – Bet £10 Get £60 In Free Bets & Bonuses
• 888sport – Bet £10 And Get £30 In Free Bets
• BoyleSports – Bet £10 & Get £20 in Free Bets

Online Rugby Betting on the Best Leagues & Tournaments

Here’s a rundown of the most high-profile rugby league competitions worldwide, that are most likely to be featured at the best rugby league betting sites.

Super League

1996 was a watershed year for rugby league in the UK, with the formation of the Super League, increased TV coverage on Sky Sports and the switch to a summer season rather than the traditional winter one. Since then the league has gone from strength to strength, with record viewing figures in 2021 and the promise of even more viewers being introduced to the game, thanks to 10 games being shown on Channel 4 from the 2021/22 season onwards.

10 teams from England and two from France play 27 games between May and September, with the top six qualifying for the play-offs and the bottom side being relegated to the RFL Championship. The play-off series culminates in the Grand Final in front of a sell-out crowd at Old Trafford football stadium and millions watching worldwide.

The Super League also rivals Six Nations rugby betting in the UK when it comes to punter popularity and that should only increase as more viewers are introduced to the sport of rugby league.

Challenge Cup

The premier knockout rugby league competition in the UK is the Challenge Cup, and the final is also one of the most prestigious matches in worldwide rugby league. Similar to football’s FA Cup, the Challenge Cup involves amateur, semi-professional and professional clubs. And it’s also one of the most inclusive competitions there is, with women’s and wheelchair tournaments too. And for the very first time, the women’s Challenge Cup Final will be held on the same day at Wembley Stadium in 2023.

NRL

The National Rugby League, or NRL, is the pre-eminent rugby league club competition in Australia and New Zealand. After the addition of the Dolphins, based near Brisbane, the 2023 NRL season will be the biggest ever, with 17 teams competing for the Provan-Summons trophy, which is one of the most eye-catching cups in the sporting world. The NRL campaign follows a similar path to the Super League with the top eight teams from the regular season competing in the finals series with the last two standing advancing to the Grand Final, which is usually held on the first Sunday in October.

The Grand Final itself is one of Australia’s major sporting events and also one of the largest attended club championship events in the world, regularly selling out the 82,000-capacity Australia Stadium in Sydney. And rugby league betting sites always experience brisk business in the run-up to the game, as well as a huge number of live rugby betting fans wagering during the match itself.

State of Origin Series

The NRL may be wildly popular but it’s another set of rugby league matchups that is described as “Australian sport’s greatest rivalry”. The State of Origin is an annual best of three series between two Australian state sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Players are picked based on where they played their first senior rugby league game. And it’s that inter-state rivalry that gives this game its USP and leads to huge attendances and worldwide viewing figures.

Rugby League World Cup Betting

Despite the fact that it is a relatively young event, having been first played in the 1950s, the Rugby League World Cup has had an eventful history! On two separate occasions in the 1980s and early 1990s, the tournament was actually played over three years.  And we don’t envy the punters who had to wait that long to know the fate of their pre-tournament bets!

Then the drama continued with the cancellation of the proposed 1998 edition due to the rugby league civil war between rival administrative bodies in Australia. Things wouldn’t improve in 2000 when a poorly-received tournament led to the cancellation of the 2004 Rugby League World Cup, and COVID led to the postponement of the 2021 edition to 2022.

However, one constant has been the utter dominance of Australia, who have won 12 out of 15 Rugby League World Cups played since 1954. So if you’re a fan of Rugby World Cup betting we’re guessing that the Kangaroos will always be high on your tournament winner shortlist! And as ever there will be a huge range of individual match markets available, as well as special bets.

Ultimate Online Rugby Betting Tips

The Best Rugby Betting Site in the UK

The last try has been scored and the final whistle has blown, and it’s Betfred who stands tall as our pick for the best rugby betting site in the UK. The headline sponsors of the Super League have taken full advantage of their unique position by offering a vast range of bonuses and special features, as well as developing a rugby league betting blog that is one of the best there is. If you’re a rugby league betting fan we’d highly recommend checking them out and we wish you the best of luck along the way!

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Scott Adler

Pro punter

Scott Adler

Pro punter

Scott Lang is a sports betting and strategy specialist with experience writing for a number of publications during a 20-year career. An expert in football and golf, Scott also has a passion for American sport, particularly the NBA and NFL.

All posts by Scott Adler