
Editor-In-Chief with 20 years experience covering the betting angles to breaking news stories. Daily slots player, Portsmouth fan and League Snooker Player
A new OLBG survey conducted by YouGov shows how bettors are likely to behave in 2025. It includes information on the most popular events to bet on, which regions of the country are most likely to gamble on betting sites, and how having kids affects betting behaviour.
๐ 2025 Betting Insights Revealed! ๐๐ฒ
We asked 2,054 adults in the UK how they planned to bet in 2025. The results of the quarterly survey shows some interesting potential betting patterns for the coming year.
Womenโs Football Betting On The Rise
The survey data shows that Women’s Football promises to be more popular with sports bettors than the Super Bowl, the Ashes and the Six Nations.
Of people who said they were likely to gamble in 2025, 16% said they would bet on the Women’s Euros, which will take place in Switzerland in July, with England and Wales among the 16 teams in action.
That compares with only 9% who said they would bet on the Super Bowl, 10% who would bet on Rugby Union’s Six Nations and 6% who said they would bet on cricket’s Ashes series.
The data shows that 18% of men expect to bet on the Women’s Euros, compared with 11% of women.
๐ Women's Euros Outshine Super Bowl! โฝ๐ฐ
Among the events specified, racing’s Grand National (48%) is the event of 2025 that most respondents said they would bet on, ahead of the FA Cup Final (33%), Champions League Final (29%) and Cheltenham Festival (22%).
North West is the UK betting capital
Data shows 26% of people in the North West plan to place a bet on a sporting event during 2025 - the highest percentage region in the country.
The region with the next highest percentage of people planning to gamble this year is Yorkshire and the Humber, with 24%. Third is London (22%) ahead of Northern Ireland (21%).
According to the results, the region with the lowest appetite for betting is the South West, with just 13% of people saying they plan to gamble this year.
๐ฒ Betting Fever in the North West! ๐
In the North West, the listed sporting event people are most likely to bet on this year is the FA Cup final (39%), ahead of the Champions League final (36%), followed by the Grand National (35%).
The picture is quite different in Yorkshire and the Humber, where 55% of potential bettors expect to bet on the Grand National, 25% on the FA Cup final and just 12% expect to bet on the Champions League final.
Interestingly, London is the region with the lowest percentage of people intending to bet on the Grand National, with just 31% but the highest percentage of people expecting to bet on the FA Cup final at 55%.
Adults With a Higher Number of Children Are Most Likely To Place Bets
Adults with children living at home are more likely to place bets than those without. And the more kids you have, the more likely you are to gamble.
The survey data shows that 28% of adults with children at home plan to place a sports bet during 2025, compared with 16% of adults without children.
The data shows that 24% of adults with one child plan to gamble this year, which increases to 28% for parents with two children at home. And a big jump to 38% of adults with three or more children at home.
๐ถ Kids at Home, Bets on the Rise! ๐๐
The most popular sporting event for adults with children at home to bet on is the FA Cup final (43%), followed by the Champions League final (38%) and the Grand National (35%).
Adults with no children at home are much more likely to favour betting on horse racing events. Data shows 58% expect to bet on the Grand National, and 24% plan to bet during the Cheltenham Festival (compared with 19% of adults who have children at home).
Men of a Certain Age Are Most Likely To Bet
Men aged between 25 and 34 are most likely to bet in 2025, the survey data shows (40%). Only 12% of women said they would bet on sports this year, compared with 26% of men.
The 25-34 age category has the highest betting intention, with 32%, ahead of 18-24 on 24%. As people age, the expectation that they will bet decreases, with only 13% of people aged 55 and over stating they expect to bet during 2025.
Older people are more likely to bet on the year's two significant horse racing events, with 73% of over-55s planning to bet on the Grand National, compared with 19% of people aged 18 to 24 planning a flutter on the big race. A similar trend applies to those
looking for Cheltenham Festival Free Bets, with 40% of over 55s planning to bet on it, compared with 8% of 18 to 24-year-olds.
๐ฏ Millennials at the Betting Helm! ๐ฐ๐บ
Methodology
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,054 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 20th - 23rd December 2024. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
The sports events listed in the survey were:
Six Nations
Super Bowl
Cheltenham Festival
Grand National
FA Cup Final
Champions League Final
Wimbledon
UEFA Women's Euros 2025
The Ashes
FIFA African Cup of Nations
Royal Ascot
March Madness
The Boat Race (Cambridge vs. Oxford)
The Ryder Cup