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- Nearly 30% of UK adults would bet against their own country
- Placing a bet enhances the enjoyment of watching football for 12% of the country.
- A pint is deemed better value for money than a bet
OLBG, the UK’s biggest sports betting community, will produce a new survey every quarter, kicking off with an in-depth look at Euro 2024.
Key Findings
Half (50%) of UK adults would not bet against their team at Euro 2024, but 29% said they would have no such qualms. 52% of Scottish adults would never bet against the Tartan Army, while 51% of English adults would never go against the Three Lions on a UK gambling site.
The people have spoken! A £5 pint (38%) is more value for money than a bet of the equivalent stake (9%). However, more than half of respondents (53%) said neither would represent value for money in terms of entertainment while watching football.
While 68% of UK adults said they never bet on football, 12% of respondents said that placing a bet on football would enhance their enjoyment of the sport. A further 13% said it would make no difference to their enjoyment levels.
Elsewhere, the same proportion of UK adults intend to participate in a tournament sweepstake (5%) as those who intend to place a bet online for an individual match (5%). Just 1% of respondents said they planned to place a bet in person (i.e. at a betting shop) on the tournament outcome.
While 83% of UK adults said they wouldn’t bet informally on Euro 2024, 7% look set to place a bet at home with friends or family, with 5% planning to participate at work with colleagues.
Surveys of this kind always throw out some interesting results, not least that nearly 30% of people would be willing to bet against their own country. I wonder how many of those would be prepared to admit that publicly
“Surveys of this kind always throw out some interesting results, not least that nearly 30% of people would be willing to bet against their own country. I wonder how many of those would be prepared to admit that publicly,” said Richard Moffat, Chief Executive Officer at OLBG.
“And while this survey shows that many supporters are clearly planning to place a bet with friends, family and work colleagues, we would always recommend placing Euro 2024 bets with a UK-licensed bookmaker,” he added.
The survey also generated some interesting results on public attitudes towards gambling against a backdrop of regulatory reform following the Gambling Act review.
For example, two-thirds of UK adults (66%) don’t think national football associations—such as the English FA—should sign commercial deals with gambling brands.
Ivan Toney has been confirmed in England’s 26-man squad for Euro 2024 despite being banned for eight months of the season due to a breach of betting rules. More than a third (38%) of UK adults strongly supported an outright ban on professional footballers being allowed to bet on Euro 2024, right across the top seven tiers of the English football pyramid.
Methodology
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 2101 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 28th - 29th May 2024. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
