UK-based bettors are less likely to bet on esports than those in other countries, new research from YouGov has found.
According to YouGov’s Global Gambling Profiles tool, Australian esports fans are most likely to bet on esports.
15% of respondents from Australia say they’re interested betting on esports, a significant proportion of the population, compared to Canada (10%), US (10%), Germany (7%), and the UK (4%).
In the UK, just 2% of gamblers said they placed a bet on esports in the last year.
However, depending on how you look at it, it could be considered a substantial number of people for an industry that’s still relatively new.
In terms of the research numbers, YouGov interviewed adults aged 18+ in six markets, with sample sizes varying between 3,930 and 24,358 for each market, and all interviews were conducted online between April 2021 and March 2022. YouGov also said data from each market uses a nationally representative sample.
With the UK population at around 67m, and about 54m aged 18 and above, this would mean that 2.16m are interested in betting on esports, and 1.08m placed a bet on esports over the past year (if we use the same percentages from YouGov’s findings).
Regardless, in the US, bettors are nearly six times as likely as their UK counterparts to have placed a bet on esports in the last 12 months (11%), a result of higher interest in competitive gaming in general stateside.
In 2020, YouGov said four in ten Brits (37%) are familiar with esports, but just 6% of them are engaged with competitions in some way.
How many people in the UK want to bet on esports compared to other countries?
YouGov said in its ‘global interest in betting on esports’ report: “North America is experiencing tremendous growth in betting in general, thanks to law changes in several US states and Canadian provinces.
“Along with the growing popularity of esports throughout the pandemic, coupled with these legislative changes, esports betting is expected by many industry observers to see several years of growth.
“While esports in general aren’t as popular in the UK as other markets, this does present an opportunity for marketers to use the UK public’s interest in sports betting to increase interest in esports.”
In general, one in five of consumers aged 18-24 in the US, UK, Australia, India, Germany, and Canada are interested in betting on esports. That number increases slightly to 22% among those 25-34 and dwindles the older they are: 35-44 (18%), 45-54 (12%), and 55+ (4%).
Regulus Partners analyst and former Esports Insider head of business development and media, Ollie Ring, also provided further context and some numbers from the European Gaming and Betting Association here.
Last month, a separate YouGov report found that esports fans in the UK are warming to cryptocurrency.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
