January 27th, 2023, Oliver Rowe
With the dust now settled on the 2022 FIFA World Cup, YouGov polled bettors to find out how it was for them. We were looking for feedback on how they got on and how their betting providers performed. We polled a nationally representative sample of over 2,000 Brits from which we found 245 who placed at least one bet on the tournament.
Overall, 40% of those that placed at least one bet say that betting ‘made the games more interesting to watch’. This figure doesn’t really change based on whether people bet more or less or even how successful they were with their bets. While we may have hoped for the percentage agreeing to be higher, we also need to remember how motivated these individuals may already have been about the tournament. A smaller 28% agree that ‘betting made the tournament [as opposed to games] more interesting to follow’ but this score goes up to 37% among those that placed more bets, here defined as at least four bets.
What is perhaps a particularly disappointing figure is that only 12% of the bettors polled felt that ‘my bookmaker made a really good effort at making the tournament exciting and/or fun’. Even among those that bet more, the percentage only rises to 15%. We actually find a higher level of agreement when it comes to enjoyment of ‘playing free daily games offered by my bookmaker’ with 15% agreeing but this rises to 24% among those who placed at least four bets. However, agreement with both these statements is higher among younger bettors – those aged under 18-34 made up 47% of tournament bettors in our sample but they account for two thirds of those agreeing with these two statements, with 17% saying their bookmaker made the tournament exciting/fun and 21% enjoying playing free daily games.
Slightly more positively, a quarter (26%) of bettors agree that their bookmaker ‘provided some great loyalty bonuses’, rising to 39% agreement among those who placed at least four bets. But in terms of new behaviour, 12% of bettors say they bet on outcomes or placed bet types that they had done previously, so there wasn’t a great deal of change there. In addition, only 7% say they opened a new account specifically for the tournament, rising to 9% amongst those who placed 4+ bets.
Finally, and perhaps most disappointingly in light of the positive score for loyalty bonuses, we find that just 2% of bettors agree that they ‘felt my bookmaker was on my side through the tournament’. Even for those who bet more often, the score is just 3%. Likewise, just 2% say that ‘I felt my bookmaker would have stepped in and helped me if I had started to lose too many bets during the tournament’. These two factors and their implications are clearly areas that brands need to consider more fully.
Methodology - YouGov RealTime Omnibus provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online on 11-12 January 2023 with a nationally representative sample of 2,018 adults in Great Britain (aged 18+ years), using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade to be representative of all adults in Great Britain and reflect the latest ONS population estimates. Learn more about YouGov RealTime Omnibus.
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