YouGov: Sky Bet leads World Cup sign-ups and usage
Research firm finds six million UK adults placed a bet during the World Cup, with two million new accounts opened
Sky Bet was the most popular UK bookmaker during the 2018 World Cup with 30% of bettors using the site, according to new data from research firm YouGov.
The Leeds-based operator finished ahead of Paddy Power 24%, bet365 with 22%, Betfair with 18%, William Hill with 17% and Ladbrokes with 16%.
The study, extrapolated from a survey of 2,061 people, found more than six million UK adults placed a bet on the World Cup, either online or in a betting shop.
Online was around three times as popular as retail according to YouGov.
In addition, more than one million of these gamblers were new customers, having not bet on any sports during the previous year.
Similarly, approximately one-third of World Cup bettors (about two million people) opened up a new account in order to take advantage of the free bets and offers
Sky Bet was also the leading site for new accounts, attracting 25% of new sign-ups.
YouGov’s James Mundell added: “The challenge for gambling brands is to sustain interest in the industry now that the hope and hype of the tournament has dissipated.
“With the next World Cup an agonising four years away, gambling companies can’t rely on the ‘Three Lions’ to bring customers in, so marketing campaigns concentrated on new but infrequent consumers are crucial.”
The data differs slightly from Oddschecker numbers – which are likely to be tilted towards more frequent gamblers – which showed bet365 with a clickshare of 30% during the tournament, ahead of Marathonbet and William Hill at around 8.5%, then Ladbrokes, Sky Bet and Betfair, all below 8%.
Last week YouGov also noted Paddy Power had achieved the best marketing cut-through during the World Cup.