Best Mercury Prize Betting Sites

Author: Taylor Smith | Last Updated: March 2024

Most awards shows have tons of categories that can get confusing to keep up with. An exception to the norm? The Mercury Prize. The Mercury Prize is an annual award given to the best album released in the UK by a British artist, group, or band.

While there’s only one winner on the stage that night, you can be a winner at home too, thanks to the best Mercury Prize betting sites! That’s right, if you can successfully pick which album is walking home with the coveted trophy and the £25,000 prize, you can cash in thanks to online Mercury Prize betting sites.

8 Reasons Why These Are the Best Mercury Prize Betting Sites

• Betting Coverage
• Competitive Lines and Odds
• Safety and Security
• Banking Options
• Reputation and History
• Ease of Use
• Quality Customer Service
• Mobile Compatibility

Betting Coverage

While the expansiveness of the bets offered is important with other awards shows like the Emmy’s or the BAFTA Awards, it’s much less important when it comes to the best Mercury Prize betting sites. Why? Because there is only one prize to win! Still, we better see that one bet covered or else it’s a pretty crummy option. There are some rare instances where we’ll see prop bets for the awards, which we’re big fans of. These are rare, though, and the absence of such bets is not a disqualifying factor in our rankings system.

Competitive Lines and Mercury Prize Odds

While betting coverage is less important, Mercury Prize betting odds are even more important! With only one bet to make, it’s imperative you find a way to get paid the absolute most possible. Our team scours through all of the options for betting on the Mercury Prize to find which sites historically offer the most competitive lines. By comparing the closing Mercury Prize odds to the winner, we can identify where the sharks and where the recreational bettors are flocking.

Safety and Security

It doesn’t matter if you’re making one bet or a thousand bets—safety and security of your money, wagers, and personal information are paramount when picking out real money Mercury Prize betting sites. The apps and sites that get this right have high levels of encryption, dedicated security teams, frequent software and system upgrades, and a proactive stance towards the issues.

Banking Options

It’s standard industry practice for online sports and entertainment betting sites to outsource banking to third parties. This makes for a better experience by leaving the money to the experts. However, this only works how it’s supposed to if the Mercury Prize betting sites choose reputable partners, integrate the software properly, and continually upgrade when necessary.

Some of the highlights we look for include:

• Multiple deposit and withdrawal methods to choose from
• Fast payouts with a great track record
• Dedicated financial support staff available 24/7/365

Reputation and History

When you buy anything, you most likely look at the reputation, reviews, and history of the product and the company. Why should that be any different when choosing an option for betting on the Mercury Prize online? It shouldn’t!

Ease of Use

Online betting’s main goal is to bring convenience to the industry. If the entertainment betting sites with odds on the Mercury Prize leave you banging your head against the wall, where’s the convenience? You might as well just drive to the closes sportsbook in that scenario. Thankfully, many of the top online Mercury Prize betting sites understand this and have adapted accordingly. With these sites, signing up, depositing, betting, and cashing out are all super simple and easy for even the least experienced bettor.

Quality Customer Service

While our team works hard to find options where betting on the Mercury Prize online is simple and straightforward, you’re inevitably going to have questions from time to time. With an awards show that only happens once a year, a question or an issue could be super time-critical.

For that reason (and a lot more), our team only recommends Mercury Prize betting sites that have quality customer service teams. Quality, to us, means you’ll find the following qualities:

• 24/7/365 support
• Fluency in all languages supported
• Trained staff that are capable of solving problems and not just escalating issues
• Several reliable mediums of contact
• Live help options (chat or phone)
• Extensive FAQs to help with common questions and needs

Mobile Compatibility

Mobile compatibility is a much smaller issue than it was 10 or 20 years ago. That being said, it’s still important to make sure that any Mercury Prize betting sites we suggest work on all major operating systems and platforms. As long as you fit into one of the categories listed above, you’re going to be able to bet with through these options.

What Is the Mercury Prize?

Sponsored by Hyundai, the Mercury Prize is a single award given out annually to the best album released in the UK. Bands and groups may also win the award, as long as over 50% of the group is of British descent. There are no limitations on the type of music that can be submitted to win.

A few months before the awards presentation, a shortlist of 12 albums are selected by a panel of industry experts that includes, “musicians, music journalists, music presenters, music producers and heads of music.” Unlike some other awards shows, the panel of judges is announced publicly.

Here are some fast facts about the Mercury Prize:

• The first awards show was held in 1992.
• The award is equivalent to the “Booker Prize for literature and the Turner Prize for art.”
• PJ Harvey is the only artist to win the award more than once.
• The band, group, or artist with the most nominations is Radiohead with five.
• Winners of the Mercury Award get a £25,000 cash prize, a trophy, and the notoriety and press that comes with the victory.
• While there is only one winner, all artists that make the shortlist are regarded as having produced an Album of the Year.
• The average number of annual entries is around 220 albums.

Types of Mercury Prize Bets

Ready for simplicity? Almost every site for Mercury Prize betting online only offers action on one bet—the winner of the prize. If you’re looking for a lot of different ways to bet real money on the Mercury Prize, you’re going to be out of luck because there is only one prize.

In some rare instances, you may see Mercury Prize betting odds on unique prop bets related to the winner or the show itself. Some examples might include:

Again, though, these are quite rare, but you may see them from time to time. It all depends on which app or site you’re using.

How to Bet on the Mercury Prize Online

• Understand how moneyline payouts work. Mercury Music Prize betting odds are presented in moneyline format. What this means is that you will be paid a different amount for different album picks based on two things—the likelihood of that album winning and how the public is betting. The less likely the sportsbook thinks an album is to win and the fewer people that bet on it, the higher your payout will be. Make sure you take the time to understand that not all wins pay the same. This can help you to better assess if a wager is worth it or not on the album you expect to win. Additionally, it might present some opportunities to bet on a longshot you think has a chance if the potential win is big enough.
• It may be okay to bet on multiple albums. Because you may get paid much better than even money on a pick, there may be opportunities to bet on multiple albums in the same year. If the odds are correct, you can walk away a winner as long as one of the options you chose wins. This strategy can lower your variance by giving you more opportunities to win. Be aware, though, if you’re making multiple bets for the same amount, you will lose more if none of your picks win.
• Take time to study the judges panel. The judges are announced every year. Before you head over to any Mercury Prize betting sites, take some time to do a little research. Who are the judges? What genres do they favor? Have they been a part of a panel before? If so, how did that panel vote? While it may be tough to predict what goes on inside the discussion and voting room, you may be able to gain an edge by studying the panel extensively.
• Keep up with the news. Remember that the judging happens in two stages. The panel gets together to decide the shortlist months before the actual awards show. Then the panel gets together again on the day of the show to decide the final winner. A lot can happen in between that time. Make sure you’re paying attention to what’s happened and how that might influence the panel’s decisions.
• Have fun! Entertainment betting is supposed to be all about having a good time. We won’t beat a dead horse here, but please never lose sight of the fun factor. If you’re not enjoying yourself, it might be time to find a different hobby.

The Last 10 Mercury Prize Winners

Mercury Betting FAQ

Other Music Award Shows to Bet On