How Much Money Do British Bet on Sports?

The gambling industry is a thriving one in Great Britain, with a regulated context that allows this business to contribute to the economy. Between 2017 and 2018, the amount spent on gambling in the United Kingdom reached £14.5bn. There are approximately 106,670 people that work in this domain and a total number of 8,423 betting shops in the United Kingdom.

Gambling is accessible in land-based locations and online also. Therefore, lots of British people spend their time making bets. Online gambling makes almost half of the sum we mentioned earlier. People prefer online casinos due to their diversity and the fact that they are much more convenient when it comes to comfort. Online betting not only allows you to play at home but comes with bonuses targeted for all types of players.

What players bet on?

Sports gambling comes in many different shapes and forms, from wagering on the National Lottery to betting on horse racing. British people spend their money on what they like and what they think is more profitable. If you wonder what UK players enjoy the most, here are some stats:

  1. 1. Horse Racing 97.4%;
  2. 2. Boxing 86.4%;
  3. 3. Tennis 81.1%;
  4. 4. Golf 81.1%;
  5. 5. Football 76.8%;
  6. 6. Formula 1 75.0%;
  7. 7. Cricket 73.1%;
  8. 8. Other 43.9%.

Worldwide, football is the sport that the majority like to bet on, but it seems that the Brits enjoy a good horse race with more than 97% bettors wagering their quid on this sport. If it were to look at the fact that betting on this sport goes back to 1600 in the Kingdom, it doesn’t come as a wonder. Close to it comes boxing with 86% percentage and after it, tennis with 81.1%. This survey was conducted on both offline and online players.

Other sources say that individuals that wager online were bound to spend more money every month compared with those that like to wager in psychical bookmakers. Studies say that 38.7% of the online gamblers bet between £10 and £100 every month, while on the other side only 29% spend this much.

Bettors between 18-24 years tend to wager more money than the other ages category, 52.3% of them putting at stake more than £10 a month.

Are they profitable?

When it comes to acknowledging the losses, most of the people think that they are making profitable bets, but only 52.6% of them know what a betting exchange is. Only 35.3% of the players consider that they make effective bets.

Also, it depends on the age of the player. 58.5% of the persons between 18-24 years think they make profitable bets. The percentage drops as the age increases:

  • 36.4% of those between 24-34 years;
  • 27.7% for people between 35-44 years;
  • 29.7 for people between 45-54 years.

You know what they say, with age comes wisdom and that seems to apply in this case too. Probably, young adults believe that their bets are profitable due to the fact that they live in the moment, not paying much attention to the overall picture.

Participation Rates

In this industry is more likely for a man to make bets, being a difference of almost 10% between the two genders. A study from 2018 showed that 37% of the male that took part in the survey do gamble, while only 28% of the women had done this.

When it comes to profitability, around 22% of the male bettors believe they make successful bets more than females think.

Due to the considerable amount of money that goes every year in the UK gambling industry and the fact that it continues to grow, we can say that British bettor spends a large amount of money on this activity.