This summer, the Gambling Commission released statistics on consumer behavior for the 2024 European Football Championship.
The regulatory body had previously surveyed people's behaviors and attitudes based on major football championships including the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and adopted a cross-sectional tracking method for the 2024 European Championship, posing a series of questions to a total of 6,237 people through the comprehensive survey conducted by consulting firm Yonder.
The survey was divided into three rounds, each involving more than 2,000 participants, with the first round taking place one week before the tournament started, the second round between the group stage and the knockout rounds, and the final round one week after the tournament ended.
Upon close examination of the data, the participation rate difference between male and female bettors actually decreased as the tournament progressed. For example, among those who reported betting on the European Championship mid-tournament, the participation rate was 27% for men and 9.6% for women, but after the tournament, the rates were 27.3% for men and 13.3% for women.
For the same parameter, results showed that among respondents aged 18 to 24, 14% had placed bets on the European Championship before the tournament, but this percentage rose to 36% one week after Spain defeated England.
The most common reasons cited for gambling during the championship were to win money, make the games more exciting, or to take advantage of promotional offers and/or free bets.
By the third wave, England's further progress in the championship clearly influenced people's betting motivations, as more respondents indicated that they placed bets because England or their supported national team was competing.
Respondents indicated that advertising had a limited impact on their motivation to bet during the 2024 European Championship, with most survey participants setting a fixed betting budget for themselves and feeling in control of their spending.
Although a significant portion of European Championship bettors indicated that they plan to bet on future sports events, such as the 2026 World Cup (67%) or the Premier League (52%), these numbers did not increase from the first to the third wave.
In relation to this, in our latest issue of "Sports Betting Focus," sports betting provider Betby provided exclusive data from its operator network, studying the betting data for the 2024 European Championship and the 2024 Copa America.
