GAA Betting: What Are The All-Ireland Football Championship Odds?

Daire Walsh

This year’s competition is almost a month old and with just 16 teams remaining in contention, the best betting sites are taking a closer look at who the main contenders are for All-Ireland Senior Football Championship glory.

Over the next two weekends, the big ball game’s four provincial deciders will take place – starting this Sunday with the showpiece affairs in Connacht and Munster.

Now that the final meetings in the east, south, west and north have been determined, 17 of the 33 teams that began 2024 in the senior grade have transferred into the third edition of the Tailteann Cup.

The draws for both the latter competition and the Sam Maguire Cup were made on Tuesday, which has helped whet the appetite for what might be delivered by the football championship in the coming months.

Although winners and losers are yet to be produced in the four provinces, the eight sides involved will know immediately what lies ahead of them once the final whistle is blown in their respective games.

Dublin Still Favourites For All-Ireland Glory

Considering they have been unbeaten in the east since losing a semi-final encounter to Meath way back in 2010, it is anticipated that Dublin will take the slot that has been allocated for the Leinster champions in Group 2 of the All-Ireland series.

Barring a shock defeat in their provincial showdown with Louth at Croke Park on May 12, the Sky Blues will take on the runners-up from this weekend’s Connacht final between Mayo and Galway in addition to Roscommon and Cavan.

Already favourites going into the championship with new betting sites – despite losing the National Football League Division One final to Derry on penalties – the Metropolitans remain the team to beat following comfortable wins over Meath and Offaly.

With the retired Dean Rock and defender David Byrne (who has taken a year out to go travelling) the only major players who are not back from last year’s panel, another big year is anticipated from Dublin.

Many bookmakers are offering odds of 6/4 on the men from the capital claiming their 32nd All-Ireland senior football title, but Ladbrokes are a best priced 13/8.

Though their run of nine Sam Maguire successes from 2011 to 2023 has closed the gap significantly, Dublin are still behind 38-time champions Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC roll of honour.

Kerry Seen As Dublin’s Biggest Challengers

It was The Kingdom that fell short to the Blues in last July’s decider and having been the previous winners of the championship in 2022, there will be a desire amongst this current Kerry group to reclaim the title in the coming months.

There is considerable firepower within their ranks, with two-time Footballer of the Year David Clifford the main man in attack, but his brother Paudie and Sean O’Shea are more than capable of easing the scoring burden on the Fossa ace.

They were pushed by Cork for the majority of their recent Munster semi-final clash, but are expected to get the better of Clare comfortably in the province’s showpiece.

Once they do, the losers of the Leinster final between Dublin and Louth, as well as Monaghan and Meath, await them in the All-Ireland group stages.

It is hard not to see them enjoying a straightforward route from here to the All-Ireland quarter-finals and like any good Kerry team of the past, this is when their challenge should really come alive.

Dublin may be the favourites for now, but with 888sport one of a handful of bookies rating their chances at 11/4, they are seen as the most likely side to topple Dublin.

Derry Viewed As Contenders Despite Recent Setback

Back-to-back Ulster senior champions in 2022 and 2023, Derry added an NFL Division One title to their list of recent accolades at the end of March.

Yet the Oak Leaf’s reign as the best team in the north was brought to an abrupt halt by Donegal on April 20 – the O’Donnell County getting the better of them on a final score of 4-11 to 0-17.

This is a major setback and even though they will have had several weeks to build towards the All-Ireland series, being in a group with the winners of this Sunday’s Connacht final and the runners-up in the Ulster showpiece could make life difficult for Mickey Harte’s men.

However, provided they get the better of Westmeath, Derry more than likely would have a preliminary quarter-final to look forward to at the very least – and there is no reason why they can’t claim the scalps of the other sides in the group as well.

With the likes of Shane McGuigan and Conor Glass remaining potent figures, Derry are still seen as the third favourites for a second All-Ireland triumph in their history with BoyleSports offering 6/1 on the Oak Leaf.

Donegal, Mayo And Galway Also In The Mix

Should they come up short against Armagh in Sunday week’s Ulster final, Donegal will have a quick renewal of acquaintances with Derry.

If they were to prevail at St Tiernach’s Park, Clones, the two-time All-Ireland champions would meet Tyrone in Group 3 of the All-Ireland series – the side they beat after extra-time in the previous weekend.

There have certainly been many encouraging signs for manager Jim McGuinness since he returned to the Donegal fold after an absence of almost 10 years as those impressive victories against Derry and Tyrone were preceded by an unbeaten march to an NFL Division 2 title.

The general consensus is that they will ultimately be a little bit short when it comes to the business end of the All-Ireland series, but betting apps are still offering odds of 14/1 on the O’Donnell men getting their hands on the Sam Maguire Cup in August.

Just ahead of them at odds of 12/1 are Mayo, who reached the Connacht final this year for just the third time in nine seasons with consecutive wins against New York and Roscommon.

At the time of writing, Mayo’s forthcoming Connacht final opponents Galway were available at odds of 14/1, the same price as Donegal.

They needed a stoppage-time goal from Rob Finnerty to beat Sligo by just two points in a provincial semi-final game last Saturday week, but with QuinnBet offering odds of 12/1 on the Tribesmen, they are still amongst the chasing pack for an All-Ireland title.