American voters are not the only ones “obsessed” with the November 3 election – the day to vote to choose the next owner of the White House.

British bettors are betting record amounts on the presidential election across the Atlantic, far exceeding the amount bet on any sporting event or any political event in the foggy country – CNN Business reported.

As of Wednesday morning, £220 million ($284 million) had been wagered on the US presidential election on Betfair Exchange, said Darren Hughes, a spokesman for the betting exchange. Betfair, based in London, operates the world’s largest online betting exchange.

In the US, betting on sporting events is legal in many states, but betting on elections is illegal. In the UK, it is legal.

The amount of money bet by Britons on this year’s US presidential election has surpassed the previous record of £199m bet on Mr Trump against Hillary Clinton four years ago. The biggest bet by Britons on a UK election was £113m on the Brexit referendum in 2016.

Betfair predicts that the amount of money wagered on this year’s US presidential election will exceed £400 million.

“You can’t underestimate the influence of the US President in the UK. Interest in betting goes far beyond political betting,” said Pete Watt, director of public relations at OddsChecker US, a company that advises and provides information to gamblers.

Betfair will continue to accept bets until the election winner is announced, Mr Hughes said. “If the vote count takes days or weeks, as some are predicting, we will continue to accept bets,” he said.

Betfair is just one of several UK bookmakers, but it is the biggest, says Watt. Other bookmakers are also taking bets on the US presidential election, meaning the amount wagered on the event could be much higher than the £220m figure.

Bets on the US election on Betfair are now larger than the total amount wagered on the exchange on the four most-bet sporting events combined: the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor boxing match in 2017; the 2018 World Cup; the 2019 Grand National horse race; and the 2020 Super Bowl.

In the 2020 US presidential election, bettors on Republican candidate Donald Trump will enjoy much larger winnings. Every £10 bet on Trump will return £18.80 if he wins, compared to just £5.26 on Democratic candidate Joe Biden. This means that UK bettors believe that Trump has a 34.8% chance of winning.

Still, the stakes are high for Mr Trump. On Friday, political forecasting site FiveThirtyEight.com gave Mr Biden an 89% chance of winning.