How Big is the Sports Betting Industry in the UK?

In other words, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that the United Kingdom’s sports betting industry is massive. However, the question many might have been thinking, just how big is it really? In this article, we explore how popular sports betting is in the United Kingdom. 

The Money Side of Things

Money makes the world go round, or so they say. This means that one metric by which we can measure the sports betting industry is the revenue it generates. And in the United Kingdom, sports betting generates quite a bit of revenue. To be precise, the sports betting industry is worth around 5.5 billion British pounds. 
Certainly, that is quite a lot of money. However, what might impress some is the fact that the number comes from 2021. Meaning, it is very likely outdated. Especially considering that in 2022 alone, over a billion pounds were spent on sports bets, both online and offline. It is likely that the number has significantly increased in 2023 and will likely continue to grow soon. 

We also must consider that betting sites are growing more popular by the day. Both men and women are a lot more likely to sign up for sports betting sites and place their bets on their favorite teams. In fact, what may shock some is to learn that women are a lot more likely than men to sign up to their favorite betting sites. 

The Percentages

According to the most recent polls in the United Kingdom, 5.6 percent of the entire population described themselves as punters. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that only 5.6% engage in betting. It is mostly frequent bettors that call themselves punters. Meaning, those who place casual bets now and again likely did not refer to themselves using that term. 

In terms of gender, 80% of all punters were men, and 20% were women. However, according to the latest research, women are increasingly signing up for sports betting websites. This means, this difference might even out soon. However, it is true that sports and betting have long been considered a “male-centric” activity. It is only recently that women have become accepted into the world of sports. 

The Favorite Sports

Lastly, we would like to look at the favorite betting sports in the United Kingdom. Football is among the most beloved. United Kingdom’s population loves football, and they get especially passionate about the English Premier League. But football is not their only passion. Other sports that get quite a bit of traction include the following:

• Cricket, England’s national sport, and one of their favorites
• Horse racing, with events like Cheltenham and the Royal Ascot
• Rugby Union, close to the popularity of football, Rugby is very popular in the UK.
• American Football only recently has the American variant on football attained huge popularity in the UK.

Other sports are also quite popular; however, these are the four that enjoy the most popularity next to football.