SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Data intelligence firm GBG has found stark changes in consumers online betting habits, as well as last hour wagering, for this years Grand National, after studying data gathered from a selection of the UK’s leading online betting companies.
For the biggest horse race of the year a flurry of betting activity (32%) occurred in the immediate build up, between 4pm and its 5.15pm start, almost double 2017’s last minute figure of 18%
As well as this an increasing adoption of online by older generations has been reported, based of 67,500 verification checks from a sample of GBG clients, with the the 31-40, 41-50, 51-60 and 60+ age categories all seeing increasing percentages year-on-year.
Peter Murray, Head of Gaming at GBG, said: “The ability to set up accounts, deposit funds, and make bets is getting better and better, regardless of someone’s location and the time of the day.
“Consumers are getting more tech savvy, and betting companies are dramatically improving the user experience.
“This means those wanting to place a bet are increasingly comfortable in leaving things to the last minute as the race approaches and they sit down with friends and family to watch.
“For betting companies this means their technology infrastructure has had to scale to manage the growing spike in traffic that occurs around marquee sports events, as well as optimise their marketing to reach customers in the short window in which they’re looking to pick their winners.”
The split in genders depositing funds into online accounts continues to within the same range, despite 50% of people choosing not to disclose, with figures slightly tilted towards men at 27%, compared to women with 23%.
It was Liverpool and London who came out on top with the largest proportion of sports fans depositing funds for the Grand National, whilst the highest volume of betting activity very much focused on the north of England.
Despite London again being on top as the city as with the highest percentage of overall betting activity with 4.24%, it was followed by Liverpool (2.78%), Newcastle Upon Tyne (2.33%), Sheffield (2.27%) and Manchester (2.25%).
Murray concluded: “The online gaming community is growing. Statistically, the data we’ve analysed shows the typical Grand National punter depositing funds online is a 28 year-old male from London, but that really doesn’t tell the whole story.
“Online betting is being used more and more by older generations that are getting more tech savvy.
“As with other areas of our economy, the growth of internet, and ultimately app driven services in gaming has spread to all demographics.”
