World Cup football brought new gamblers to UK companies

A new YouGov study has illustrated how the 2018 World Cup Football championship in Russia has attracted new customers to British betting companies, but cautions that ongoing efforts are needed to retain these fresh but ‘infrequent’ punters.

The study showed that the scale, enthusiasm and excitement generated by the tournament translated into involvement in betting, whether that was in a fun office-based competition, or with an established betting organisation.

The study shows that 14 percent of Brits (around 7 million people) took part in a World Cup sweepstake with their friends, family or workplace, including almost a quarter (24 percent) of full time workers.

Outside of the work environment, YouGov data suggests that 6 million people in the UK placed a bet on the tournament, either in a traditional high-street betting shop, or online (equivalent to 12 percent of the adult population).

Crucially for online brands, more than three times as many people placed their bet online than in a physical bookmaker.

YouGov says that a million of this year’s World Cup punters were new to gambling (ie they had not placed a sports bet in the preceding year).

And it says that introductory offers were a major incentive, resulting in a third of World Cup bettors (around 2 million people) opening up a new account in order to take advantage of free bets and offers.

“The challenge for gambling brands is to sustain interest in the industry now that the hope and hype of the tournament has dissipated,” YouGov observes.

“With the next World Cup an agonising four years away, gambling companies can’t rely on the ‘Three Lions’ to bring customers in, so marketing campaigns concentrated on new but infrequent consumers are crucial.

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