Following on from this summer’s UEFA European Football Championship, Commission Research and Statistics Analyst Robyn Brummitt and Research and Impact Manager Caleb Adegbola discuss the impact of the tournament on consumer gambling behaviour.

“The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship (Euros) was a landmark event, not only for football fans but also for the gambling industry. This tournament provided us with a unique opportunity to explore the impact of the Euros on consumer behaviour, particularly following England’s impressive run to the final.

“Given that major football tournaments featuring the home nations occur only every two years, we partnered with our Consumer Voice research provider, Yonder, to explore betting behaviours, motivations, and the impact of promotional offers and advertising during this year’s Euros tournament. This research builds on our previous studies into gambling attitudes during major football events like the World Cup.”

What did Yonder do?

“Using Yonder’s omnibus survey (opens in new tab), we employed cross-sectional tracking to ask a series of questions to a total of 6,237 people across three waves, with just over 2,000 respondents participating in each. The first wave was conducted a week before the tournament started, wave 2 fieldwork was conducted between the group stage and the knockout stages, and wave 3 was a week after the tournament had concluded. Participants shared their insights on various topics, including their betting activity and intentions, awareness of advertising, use of promotional offers, gambling motivations, and even how England’s run to the final influenced their behaviour.

“Betting behaviour: The rise of the young female bettor?

Interestingly, our findings revealed a notable increase in the proportion of female respondents who reported betting on the Euros, which significantly outpaced the rate of increase among male respondents. Pre-tournament (20.8 percent male, 6.6 percent female) and mid-tournament (27.0 percent male, 9.6 percent female) ratios were similar, with males approximately three times more likely to report participation – but that was closer to two times (27.3 percent, 13.3 percent) more likely in the post-tournament wave.”

“When considering age, there was a marked increase in the proportion of those aged 18 to 24 who reported betting on the Euros in wave 3 (14 percent at wave 1, 36 percent at wave 3) compared to older groups, for whom the increase in participation was far more modest.

“As with previous research, (such as the aforementioned project into World Cup gambling attitudes), the most common motivations for gambling were to win money, make the game more interesting or because of a promotional offer and/or free bet. There was evidence of a change in motivations during the tournament due to the success of the English team, with a significant increase in the third wave in the proportion of respondents reporting that they had bet because England or the country they support were playing. (21 percent at wave one, 23 percent at wave two, 36 percent at wave three in which), particularly amongst the 18 to 24 year old group.”

What drives betting?

“Overall, respondents said that advertising had a limited impact on their gambling engagement. Less than 10 percent of those who intended to or had bet on the Euros reported doing so because they saw an advert, and most people who reported betting on the Euros spent the amount they anticipated (67 percent), 15 percent reported spending less than expected (a decrease from wave 2), and just 10 percent reported spending more than they had planned. In their comments, many respondents indicated they had set a fixed budget and felt in control of their spending.

“When it comes to promotions, free bets were reported to be the most popular, with three out of four respondents that had engaged in offers utilising free bets.

“Looking at intentions for future sporting events, a significant proportion of those that bet on the Euros stated they also plan to bet on other upcoming sporting events like the World Cup in 2026 (67 percent), the Premier League (52 percent) and Olympics (22 percent). However, this did not increase from wave 1 to 3, suggesting that the Euros may not have enticed respondents to gamble on other sporting events.”