August 9th, 2023, Rishad Dsouza
A new poll conducted via YouGov Surveys reveals that about one in 20 American sports bettors had bet on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 as of August 3, 2023. Additionally, half of sports bettors in the US said they were very or fairly likely to bet on the event as it progresses (51%). Looking at Americans in general, over a tenth of them said they are likely to bet on the marquee event (11%).
Sports bettors in this piece are defined as those who have placed one or more bets on sports in the past six months.
This appetite for betting could be dented with U.S. Women’s National Team’s shock exit from the event after their Round of 16 match against Sweden. After all, over a quarter of bettors and potential bettors said that their support for a specific team or player is among the factors that could motivate them to place a bet in upcoming games (27%). Additionally, three tenths of this audience also said their knowledge of team or player stats could be a factor that could motivate them to place a bet (29%). With the home team now out of the event, it is plausible bettors motivated by these factors could become less interested in the prospect of placing a bet.
Before delving into the details on the other factors that could motivate potential FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 bettors, we take a look at who these likely bettors are. Firstly, it is worth noting the sharp correlation between those watching the event and betting interest. Among those who said they were watching the event very closely, two-fifths (43%) said they were very likely to bet on the event. Among those following the event fairly closely, the share of those indicating they are very likely to place a bet dropped five times to 8%. While this type of correlation isn’t entirely surprising, the degree of the effect is noteworthy.
Another interesting observation is that more frequent sports gamblers – those who said they have placed a bet at least once a week on average over the past six months – were less likely to have already placed a bet on the FIFA Women’s World Cup compared to less frequent sports gamblers. Just 2% of these weekly sports gamblers said they had already placed a bet on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, compared to nearly a tenth (9%) of those gamblers who placed a bet between once a fortnight to once in six months. This could mean that the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 held a greater gambling appeal to slightly more casual sports gamblers. However, the share of weekly gamblers who said they are likely to bet on the event in the coming days was much higher (66% vs 27%).
Looking at demographics, men were heavily represented in the group of potential gamblers, making up nearly a third of the audience (63%), compared to just 37% of women. Younger audiences were also heavily over-represented in the group of potential FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 bettors. Those aged 18-34 made up three-fifths of this audience (60%), whereas they compromise only a third of the overall American population (31%). It is clear that sports gambling in general is a pursuit of the younger crowd in the US, but the representation of young adults in the group of FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 potential gamblers is eight percentage points higher than its representation in the sports gamblers' group (52%).
Adults aged 55+, who make up nearly two-fifths of the national population (38%), compromised just 2% of those who said they were very likely or fairly likely to bet on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Circling back to factors that motivate bettors and potential bettors to place wagers on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, attractive odds and potential winnings is the biggest draw (34%). As stated above, support for a team or player and knowledge of a team or player could also motivate the audience to place bets. Needless to say, there is some overlap between the consumers who select either of the two options – still, when combined these categories account for 47% of all bettors/potential bettors.
The other major motivators include promos and bonuses offered by betting platforms (28%), recommendations from friends (28%) and recommendations from gambling pros (23%). A fifth of consumers would also view betting as a chance to feel more engaged with matches (20%), and the availability of a bettors’ guide to the tournament is a motivator for a similar size of the audience (19%).
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YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online on 2-3 August 2023, with a nationally representative sample of 1,185 adults in the US (aged 18+ years), using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.