Which sportsbooks do UK bettors use as their main account and why

Sky Bet and Bet365 are the two online sportsbooks with the highest share of account openings among online sports gamblers in the UK market, but are they also the sportsbooks that gamblers use as their preferred option? In this piece we use data from a fresh YouGov poll to examine online sports gamblers’ main accounts and factors that help brands acquire those preferred positions.

Over a third of online sports gamblers in the UK have accounts with Sky Bet (36%) and Bet365 (36%). Paddy Power (32%) and William Hill (32%) also have a comparable base. Nearly a quarter of online sports gamblers have accounts with Ladbrokes (23%), while a fifth have ones with Coral (19%) and Betfair (19%). BetFred (15%), Betway (12%) and 888 (12%) round off the top 10.

But opening an online betting account is only half the battle. Are brands able to convert openings into regular users, or even take most preferred status for their online sports bets? Bet365 (20%) retains the top spot in this regard, with a fifth of online sports gamblers saying they use it as their main online betting account, with Sky Bet coming in second at 17%. While William Hill and Paddy Power are tied in terms of open accounts, the former takes the lead in terms of main account usage (16% vs 14%).

A fifth of all online sports gamblers have accounts with Coral and Betfair, but Betfair takes a lead in the main account column.

But what are the factors that consumers take into consideration when settling on a main gambling account?

While promo and discount related factors like having free bets (27%), availability of good promotions and rewards (23%) and good odds (17%) are important factors, ease of use is just as, if not more, important (28%). In addition, sports gamblers can get swayed by ease in being able to load and withdraw money (27%).

Apps that are regulated in the UK (15%) also have an advantage and an equal proportion of them cite the option of a free-to-play game (14%) they like as the reason for their preferring a certain sportsbook.

More intangible things also play a role. Nearly a fifth of sports gamblers say they “don’t know” why they prefer a certain app (17%), a tenth say it’s because the brand is their type (10%) and 7% say it’s because they feel a certain brand is luckier for them.

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