Russians betting less this year

The Russian bookmaking firm Rub90 has claimed following a statistical review that the average Russian punter is spending less this year, speculating that a weaker Russian currency and struggling economy may be having an impact.

The company found that the average bet in the first quarter of 2016 was, at the equivalent of $11.39, around $4.13 lower than the comparable period in the preceding quarter 4-2015.

Football remains the most popular sport to bet on in volume terms, but also experienced the biggest decline in the average size of bets, dropping from the equivalent of $19,27 in Q4-2015 to just $12.29 in Q1-2016.

In average value terms, basketball attracted the highest average bets at $14.57 among a range of sports that included volleyball, hockey and handball in addition to football.

After football, basketball is currently the most favoured sport among Russian punters.

Rub90 noted that in-play betting continued to rise in popularity in Q1-2016, comprising 75 percent of all wagers in the quarter, with especially high volumes in the very early hours of the morning.

Related and similar