Glasgow is the odds-on favourite to stage the Eurovision Song Contest next year after the final shortlist of potential host cities was whittled down to two this week.
The 67th edition will be held in the United Kingdom after the European Broadcasting Union confirmed 2022 winners Ukraine would not be able to host the event on safety grounds.
The search for a host city had already been trimmed to seven after this year’s runners-up were given the nod to step in and Glasgow has now been backed down to 4/9 from 2/1 with BoyleSports to stage the event, with Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield all out of contention.
Liverpool was a 10/1 shot when betting opened and remains the underdog despite shortening into 13/8 and receiving the backing of Labour leader Keir Starmer when he hosted the party’s conference in the city this week.
Lawrence Lyons, spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “Glasgow has been the favourite to host Eurovision from the minute we knew it was heading to the UK, so it’s no surprise to see it backed into odds-on now it’s in the final two. Liverpool has been gambled at prices as big as 10/1, so we’re hoping the betting is on the money because that would be a bad result for us now.”
