Buyer guide
What to look for in a matched-betting feed
If you are buying the feed that will sit under an oddsmatcher, this is the checklist. Eight things that decide whether the feed makes your product or quietly undermines it — with the reasoning behind each.
8 min read
An oddsmatcher is only as trustworthy as the feed beneath it. A wrong pair, a stale price, or an opportunity that cannot actually be placed teaches users — fast — to stop trusting your numbers.
This checklist is specific to matched betting. The generic provider criteria — coverage, freshness, delivery, reliability, support — all apply here too, and are covered in how to choose an odds-data provider; below are the eight things that bite hardest for a matched feed specifically. Work through them against any feed you are evaluating; the order is roughly how badly each one bites if you get it wrong.
1. Is it matched, or just raw prices?
The first and biggest question. A matched feed returns each opportunity as a back/exchange-lay pair, rated, with qualifying figures. A raw feed returns prices and expects you to build the matching engine.
For a matched-betting product, buying raw means committing to build and maintain fixture matching, pairing, rating and gating yourself. That can be right if your edge is in that logic — but go in with your eyes open. Most teams want the matched feed.
2. Is bet365 included?
bet365 is central to matched betting and one of the hardest books to cover, so it is often missing. A matched-betting feed without bet365 is missing offers and prices users care about.
Treat its presence as table stakes, and confirm it is genuinely included rather than a future promise.
3. Are the rows gated for actionability?
A rated pair is useless if the exchange has no liquidity or the price has aged out. The feed should gate on liquidity and freshness so the opportunities you render can actually be placed.
Ungated rows are the fastest way to lose user trust: the first time someone tries to lay an opportunity and the money is not there, your credibility takes the hit, not the feed's.
4. Which matcher types are covered?
Matched betting is several calculations: standard, each-way, extra-place, BOG, dutching, 2Up. A feed that only does 'standard' covers a fraction of what your users will want.
You do not need every type on day one, but you want a feed that offers them so you can expand without changing providers — each type is expensive to build yourself.
- Standard, each-way, extra-place, BOG, dutching, 2Up as finished output.
- Selectable per request, from one endpoint.
- Consistent rating and qualifying figures across types.
5. How fresh is it, and can you prove it?
Odds move; a matched opportunity has a shelf life. The feed should refresh on a tight cycle and stamp every payload with a processed-at time, and ideally publish freshness live so you — and your users — can see it.
Be sceptical of 'real-time' with no number. A stated cadence and a visible freshness surface beat a marketing word.
6. Is delivery efficient?
Matched-betting products poll frequently. ETag/304 support and gzip mean you refresh on the cycle without re-downloading an unchanged board every time — the difference between cheap polling and a runaway bill.
One endpoint per matcher type keeps the integration small, too.
7. Is the coverage maintained?
Bookmakers change markets constantly, and for a matched feed the failure mode is nastier than a missing price: a mismapped market produces a confidently-wrong back/lay pair — wrong qualifying figures your users act on — not just a gap.
So ask how mapping drift is caught before it reaches a rated row, and whether coverage and normalisation are maintained for you so your product stays correct without you chasing every change.
8. Can you see proof, and try it?
Finally: is there verifiable proof the feed runs in production, and can you try it on the real envelope before committing? A provider confident in a matched feed will show you a live freshness surface and give you a trial key.
Building on a feed you have only seen in a demo is a risk you do not need to take.
At a glance
| Criterion | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Matched output | Back/exchange-lay pairs, rated, with qualifying figuresRaw prices mean you build the matching engine yourself. |
| bet365 | Genuinely included, not promisedIt is the book matched bettors expect most. |
| Gating | Liquidity- and freshness-gated rowsUngated opportunities break user trust on first failure. |
| Matcher types | Standard, each-way, extra-place, BOG, dutching, 2UpA single-type feed covers a fraction of demand. |
| Freshness | A stated cadence + a visible freshness surfaceOpportunities have a shelf life; 'real-time' with no number is a red flag. |
| Delivery | ETag/304 + gzip, one endpoint per typeFrequent polling has to stay cheap. |
| Maintenance | Coverage and normalisation maintained for youUnmaintained coverage decays into wrong rows. |
| Proof + trial | A live freshness surface and a trial on the real envelopeDo not build on a feed you have only seen in a demo. |
Key takeaways
- Confirm the feed is matched, not raw, before anything else.
- bet365 included and rows gated for actionability are table stakes.
- Prefer a feed that offers every matcher type, even if you start with one.
- Demand a stated freshness cadence and a visible freshness surface.
- Insist on a trial against the real envelope before committing.
Where OddsRelay fits
OddsRelay's matched feed is built to pass this checklist: matched back/exchange-lay rows, rated and with qualifying figures, bet365 included, gated on liquidity and freshness, across every live matcher type, on a tight timestamped cycle with ETag/304 delivery and maintained coverage — plus a live coverage surface and a trial on the real envelope. It already powers a leading UK matched-betting platform.
Questions
Is a raw odds feed ever right for matched betting?
Only if your edge is your own matching and rating logic and you want to own it. Otherwise a raw feed means building and maintaining the matcher before you ship — most matched-betting teams want the matched feed.
Why is gating so important?
Because an opportunity that cannot be placed — no exchange liquidity, or a stale price — damages trust the first time a user hits it. Gating on liquidity and freshness keeps the rows you render actionable.
How many matcher types do I really need?
Start with what your users want most (often standard and each-way), but choose a feed that offers all of them so you can add extra-place, BOG, dutching and 2Up without switching providers.
Keep reading
Matched-betting data
Oddsmatcher-ready rows — back/lay paired, rated, gated, bet365 included.
Oddsmatcher-ready, explained
The difference between raw prices and a row you can render straight into an oddsmatcher.
Lay & exchange coverage
Why the exchange side matters as much as the bookmaker side — and what 'lay coverage' really means.
Choosing a provider
The eight criteria that actually separate odds feeds — coverage, freshness, schema, support and more.
Matched-betting platforms
The matched feed your oddsmatcher renders — back/lay paired, rated, bet365 included.
Tipsters & content sites
Embeddable calculators, comparison tables and offers under your own brand — fed by one API.
For matched betting
What separates a matched-betting feed worth building on — and where OddsRelay fits.
Put the criteria to the test.
Start a free trial of the full UK feed, bet365 included, and judge it against everything in this guide.