UK wagers £1.5bn on FIFA World Cup
The UK wagered £1.5bn ($1.9bn) on the FIFA World Cup, according to an H2 Gambling Capital study.
This betting was driven by England reaching the semi-final of the competition for the first time in 28 years.
The World Cup final almost drew in more in-play bets than the FA Cup final and the Champions League final combined.
Sports betting supplier OpenBet processed over 177m bets during the World Cup, with 6.5m bets placed during the two semi-final matches between England and Croatia and France and Belgium respectively.
England’s nail-biting penalty shootout victory over Colombia drew in the most bets on a single game, with 4.5m wagers placed.
Golden Boot winner Harry Kane was the subject of 6% of the Golden Boot bets prior to the start of the tournament.
Bookies profited off the early exit of defending champion Germany, which was the most popular pre-event bet to win the World Cup.
Keith O’Loughlin, SVP Sportsbook and Platforms at SG Digital, owner of OpenBet, said: “The World Cup is an undeniably popular event with global impact, and we’re glad to see our partners perform so well. Factors such as a favourable time zone, own nation’s participation and some of the favourites being beaten out early on have led to a great success story with our European customers, with some seeing peaks over 200% as compared to a normal Premier League Saturday.”
The reported figures are significantly higher than the amount wagered during the World Cup in Italy and France combined, which registered €466m ($544m) and €366m respectively.
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