The UK's sports betting industry is a centuries-old institution – and all those many years ago, it was founded on the same senses of excitement and anticipation that continue to define it today. For that reason, much of the world of sports betting remains unchanged; while the methods, the rules, and the sports themselves may have undergone many evolutions over the centuries and decades, the core philosophy of UK sports betting remains the same.
That said, sports betting as we know it today would appear, in a practical sense, unrecognisable when we compare it with its humble roots. While today we can log into a digital casino from the comfort of our own homes and place our bets as and when we feel moved to do so, punters of days gone by would have been forced to brave the cold and head to a physical establishment – or to simply swap an informal bet with a friend.
But just how much has sports betting grown in the UK? While it would be impossible to quantify the growth as it pertains to the age-old tradition of sports betting, we can glean plenty just by taking a look at the rising state of play from the 1960s onwards. Back at the dawn of the decade, the first sports betting shops began to explode onto the high street and usher in a new era of regulated sports betting across the UK.
Since then, the ripples of that initial explosion have continued to reshape the entire industry. Of course, many factors have contributed to the incredible growth of sports betting within the UK. Read more about them below.
The Move Online
No single factor has contributed more to the UK sports betting industry than its move into the digital realm. Indeed, the entire gambling industry has benefited immeasurably from the ability to reinvent the players' experience on the internet. From our ability to play casino from our homes, to the myriad opportunities to place bets when we are on the go, the online gambling industry has transformed a tradition that stems back hundreds of years – if not thousands.
But, in spite of the fact that the internet has opened up the playing field for all genres of gambling, sports betting remains an undisputable leader for the entire industry. In December 2019, for instance, it was found that 81.3% of respondents to a survey about online gambling habits partook in sports betting. More than half of respondents joined in the football pools and dog races, and yet more placed bets on horse racing. This placed sports betting over and above other popular draws for gamblers, including the National Lottery draw and the longstanding crowd favourite, bingo.
Horse racing alone draws in nine figure revenues each and every year. What is interesting, however, is the fact that The Grand National – inarguably, horse racing's biggest event of the year – is pipped to the post in terms of popularity among punters by a number of other largescale sporting events. The World Cup, for instance, alongside the Superbowl – both draw in billions of pounds' worth of bets from across the globe. Formula 1, cricket and golf, too, have helped to grow the scope of the global sports betting industry.
To be sure, the influence of global trends is likely a strong contributor to the UK's own growing fascination with sports betting. As sporting events grow flashier, and an ever-growing list of major stadiums are being redesigned into state-of-the-art sporting havens, the sports betting industry responds by evolving alongside it.
For the player, this means that the stakes are growing higher, and that ensuring player security, comfort and control is at the forefront of every provider's efforts as the competition between leading names continues to grow more and more fierce.
Future Predictions
In 2018, the Russia World Cup witnessed more than a 10% increase in the number of viewers tuning in to watch at least three minutes, compared with the numbers for the Brazil World Cup in 2014.
The story seems to be the same for every other major sporting event across the globe. From the horse races in Cheltenham to the Ashes Series, the past few years seem to have been defined by a bubbling excitement preparing, at any minute, to spill over.
What does this mean for the sports betting industry within the United Kingdom? Given the country's longstanding infatuation with the tradition of placing bets on our favourite sporting events, we can rest assured that the entire industry will only continue to grow alongside the sporting world over the next few years. The stakes are sure to grow higher, and the offerings ever more exciting, as the players and the fans continue to reshape the sporting world, and bring it to new heights over the coming decades. Watch this space.
