Rage Against The Machine’s Christmas Number One victory over Joe McElderry has cost the betting industry over £1 million in payouts.

A spokesperson for Coral told the Daily Telegraph the figure after ‘Killing In The Name’ originally opened with odds of with odds of 150/1 to beat X Factor winner McElderry‘s ‘The Climb’.

“It’s the biggest Christmas shock of all time,” Gary Burton of Coral explained, “and although it has cost the industry over £1 million, it at least now keeps the interest going, after The X Factor dominance almost killed off the festive chart betting forever.”


Ladbrokes spokesperson Nick Weinberg similarly admitted: “We simply didn’t see it coming.”

Simon Cowell has offered Jon and Tracy Morter, who were behind the Facebook campaign to get Rage Against The Machine to the top spot, a job at his record label since the win, while Rage Against The Machine have confirmed they will play a free UK gig next year to commemorate their victory.

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