Wednesday 4 May 2016 06:14, UK
Just over 24 hours after paying out record sums on Leicester's odds defying triumph, Sky Bet is reporting a liability close to £10m on newly-promoted Burnley winning the Premier League next season.
The Football League sponsor has paid out £5.6m after the Foxes were crowned champions following Tottenham's 2-2 draw at Chelsea, having laid bets at as long as 5,000/1.
Burnley also secured promotion from the Sky Bet Championship on Monday and were installed at the same price to go on and win the Premier League, odds which were immediately lapped up by punters dreaming of a life-changing payout.
The hefty liabilities have forced Sky Bet to cut the Clarets from 5,000/1 to 1,000/1, with one backer waging £60 at 2,500/1 to line up a potential pay out of £150,000.
Sky Bet's Dale Tempest said: "As the Football League sponsor, we were expecting interest from fans when we added Burnley into the title betting, but what followed has been quite remarkable and unprecedented.
"Just 128 backed Leicester at the start of this season and we've already got well over a thousand bets on Burnley, making for some pretty frightening reading in our outright book."
While Leicester's achievement did not involve winning the title straight after being promoted, their feat is perhaps no less remarkable given last season's survival heroics, when they were rock bottom and seven points adrift of safety with nine games remaining.
What Burnley would have to achieve is not unprecedented either, with Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest winning the top-tier title straight after securing promotion from the old Division Two in 1976/77.
However, the Clarets have failed to avoid relegation following their previous two promotions to the Premier League, finishing 18th in 2009/10 and 19th in 2014/15.
Middlesbrough and Brighton will now battle it out to join them in promotion celebrations when they meet on Saturday, with the triumphant fans sure to be checking their side's title odds in the hope of following in Leicester's odds-defying footsteps.
However, it would take a brave decision for Sky Bet to offer 5,000/1 again after being burned by Burnley's faithful backers.
