Star Sports review: a racing bookie that also does football

Star Sports is a smaller UK bookmaker with its roots in horse racing. For football fans it’s a useful second account rather than your main one, and its welcome offer has some fine print to read first.

Star Sports

3.8 / 5

No.4 in our bookies’ table

Match ratings

Racing coverage8.8

Safer gambling tools8.5

App on matchday7.6

Payments7.5

Football markets7.2

Offers6.6

Footballmine’s rating is our editorial opinion across six categories. It isn’t a measure of how much you could win, and no bookmaker or betting approach guarantees a profit.

The basicsTeam sheet

• LicenceGambling Commission (Great Britain)
• Welcome offerBet £20 (or more), Get 2 x £5 Free Bets (new customers, T&Cs apply)
• Qualifying bet£20+ at odds of Evens (2.0) or bigger
• Using the Free BetsTrebles or bigger accas at 4/1 (5.0)+, within 24 hours of each being credited
• Existing customersStar Boosts: price boosts on selected events
• Best forRacing fans who also bet on football

Strengths & weaknessesForm guide

The welcome offerBet £20, get 2 x £5, in plain English

The qualifying step is simple. The restrictions come afterwards, in how you can use the Free Bets:

1. 1
   Join through our link and enter any promo code shown on the offer page before you deposit.
2. 2
   Place a £20 bet at Evens (2.0) or bigger. Don’t cash it out.
3. 3
   Your first £5 Free Bet lands once the terms are met. The second follows 24 hours later.
4. 4
   Each Free Bet must go on a treble or bigger at combined odds of 4/1 (5.0) or more, within 24 hours. A £5 Free Bet at 4/1 returns £20, because the stake isn’t included.

The catch: Odds of 4/1 imply roughly a one-in-five chance, so most Free Bets on this offer won’t return anything. Only take the offer if £20 is a stake you’d be placing anyway.

“The real cost of this offer is the £20 you put in, not the £10 you get back.”

Saturday 3pmThe matchday test

For a Saturday of football, Star Sports does the basics. Match result, both teams to score, goals lines and the main goalscorer markets are all there for the Premier League and EFL. Bet builders and the deeper player markets are thinner than at bet365 or Betway, and the in-play page has fewer stats to work from.

If your Saturday is a mix of the football and the afternoon racing card, that’s where Star Sports makes most sense.

Beyond the footballRacing and Star Boosts

Racing is Star Sports’ home ground, with thorough coverage of UK and Irish meetings. Star Boosts are available to existing customers on selected events. Each boost has its own terms and maximum stake, and a boosted price doesn’t change how likely the outcome is.

PaymentsGetting money in and out

You can deposit with a debit card and the other methods listed in the cashier. Withdrawals normally go back to the method you deposited with, after ID and age checks. Credit cards can’t be used with any operator licensed in Great Britain.

Your questionsFrom the terraces

#AD · Advertising & affiliate disclosure: Footballmine may receive commission from Star Sports if you open an account through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Commission never changes our ratings. Footballmine is not a gambling operator and does not accept bets. 18+ only. Offer details checked 29 October 2026 and may change, so always read the full terms on Star Sports before taking part. Only bet with money you can afford to lose. BeGambleAware.org.