New Punters Least Confident On World Cup Promotions, Claims Study

First-time football punters were less engaged throughout the World Cup and felt the least informed about betting promotions, according to the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC). A comprehensive UKGC study dissected a wide demographic of bettors, exploring wagering habits and trends.

Of the 834 UK adults who bet on the major tournament over the summer, new football bettors were most likely to be female (68%) and more inclined to be younger. However, the survey presented some alarming findings.

Bringing new bettors into the mix

Overall, new football bettors accounted for 8% of World Cup bettors. Interestingly, only six in ten people (60%) who were wagering for the first time on football felt they had all the information at hand to make betting decisions, while this figure rose to 83% for occasional bettors and 91% for regular bettors.

Interestingly, the study indicated that new bettors were more likely to use no information or bet spontaneously (29%), with 39% of respondents citing fun or entertainment as the primary reason for betting on the World Cup.

Although 21% of those claimed that they bet to try to win money, a further 21% of new bettors said they wagered as they were influenced by friends and family.

While betting was broadly consistent across the tournament for occasional and existing football bettors, new punters had lower levels of betting participation. In the early stages, this was around the 40% mark, rising to 59% by the time of the semi-finals before dropping back to 44% and 33% for the final and third place play-off respectively.

Promotions cause stumbling block

Perhaps unsurprisingly, new bettors felt a bit stumped when it came to approaching World Cup promotions. Of those asked whether they understood whether acca insurance meant retrieving a full stake in cash if one leg of an accumulator lost, 80% of those who responded admitted they did not know.

Promotions were a common theme and popular throughout the tournament, with 39% of those using free bets, while enhanced odds or price boosts accounted for 22%. That said, of those who placed a bet linked to an offer, 35% of those interviewed didn’t seek further information before betting.

Instinct still the common betting denominator

Trusting instinct, it appeared, remained the common denominator. Of those interviewed, 58% of World Cup bettors relied on their own knowledge or instinct before placing a bet, which was far greater than the 21% of the respondents who claimed they checked the odds or price shown before settling on a wager.

However, AI has started to creep into betting decisions. Use of AI was reported by 7% of all World Cup bettors, and this was most popular among the 18-34 age group, where 12% of bets placed were carried out with the help of AI.

Revenue importance overstated

The World Cup, according to bookies, caused a ripple effect. Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain, for example, noted strong engagement in publishing their first-half (H1) financial results, which indicated that bet gaming revenue (NGR) for the UK and Ireland (UK&I) shot up by 8%, while wagers placed on goalscorer betting quadrupled compared to four years ago.

However, Ed Birkin, managing director of H2 Gambling Capital, suggested the World Cup was more effective as a customer acquisition tool than as a key revenue driver.

He said: “Overall in markets that report it, the World Cup is accounting for around 7% of sports turnover. However, it really depends on the outcomes of games in terms of what is to be done.”