FA Cup is the punters’ no.1 football competition

More than a quarter of Brits will have a flutter on the final.

When it comes to betting, the FA Cup is the UK’s football competition of choice, according to a survey of 2,000 adults commissioned by online payments company Skrill.

According to the survey, more than one in four (26%) people will attempt to pick the winner of the FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Hull City on May 17th. This places it ahead of the one in five (21%) people estimated to have bet on the Premier League outcome, or the same number of people (21%) who will bet on the Champions League final.

Confidence seems to be higher closer to Arsenal’s home turf, with 41% of Londoners placing average bets of £16 on the FA Cup final. This drops to just under 28% across the Yorkshire and Humberside region, where Hull supporters are more likely to place lower average bets of £10.

It may be the world’s oldest cup competition but it’s out with the old and in with the new when it comes to how people are choosing to part with their money. It’s currently neck and neck between digital and shop betting, with 36% saying in-store remained their preferred choice for betting on big sporting events in the UK, against 26% choosing to bet online and 10% via a mobile app (36% combined).

These findings are set against unprecedented growth in online and mobile gambling, with bets placed using a mobile or tablet expected to reach $62bn globally by 2018ⁱ – a 600 per cent increase on the $10bn wagered worldwide in 2013. And it appears to be 18-24 year olds driving change, with 23% using their mobile to bet on big sporting events, compared to just 2% of people aged 55+. This trend is expected to continue in line with other increasing mobile habits.

Paul Barclay, VP Gambling and FX at Skrill, commented: “It’s clear from our survey that the punters’ love for the FA Cup remains undiminished. What is changing however is the move to digital betting. While the high-street bookmaker remains an integral part of the industry, the introduction of innovations such as free bets for mobile users and in-game odds means that online and mobile betting can only get bigger.”