Why does the UK have such a penchant for sports betting?

What is it with the UK and sports betting? On Saturdays, friends are asking each other about what accumulators they have put on, and often they are also backing teams as outrights for the whole season, predicting who might win the Premier League or the Formula One Drivers’ Championship. Some people put in loads of research and try to study the form to guess the outcome. 

The UK’s public is definitely one of the populations in which sports betting resonates very strongly. What is the reason for this? Can this penchant for sports betting be traced?

Constant coverage

One of the reasons why the UK is known as a sports betting hub is the fact that there is a lot of coverage. We’re talking coverage of events and of the industry itself. People can check out the latest in sports betting easily and review betting sites to see which have the best odds. 

Writers like Daniel Smyth, who is a respected veteran of the betting industry, are among those providing people with information about the top casinos – and the best offers in sports gambling, too. 

People don’t have to search long and hard to find options and an overview of what is available in terms of bonuses and sites that provide betting odds and markets.

Some of the most popular competitions and stars

One of the reasons why people are drawn to sports and sports betting is the fact that there are massive stars to watch and entertaining matches happening all the time. 

Football stars are more than merely footballers, too. They become cultural figures who have their wedding photos published or even have political influence, such as Marcus Rashford, who has previously successfully managed to get the UK government to change its mind about certain policies.

The Premier League is the most widely-watched football league in the world. Other sports have also seen massive British stars attracting even more eyeballs and giving people the chance to log in and bet on these sports. Lewis Hamilton dominated Formula One for a long period of time, and he’s just one example of a superstar Brit. 

Other sports where gambling is huge include boxing, and this is another area where British competitors have been successful in recent years. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are among the biggest names globally.

Putting it simply, British people love sports and this means that they are more likely to want to gamble on their favourite teams or the biggest events that are coming up. 

A rich history

The origins of sports betting are sometimes debated, but many people are in agreement that the industry started centuries ago in the UK. Horse racing has been successful for centuries, and in fact, the earliest horse races took place in the 1100s, which is hard to even imagine now, almost 1,000 years on. 

Football has been popular for over a century, and few could have foreseen just how big this industry would become, with players earning millions annually and games being watched all over the world.

Back in the 1990s, the Premier League was launched, which catapulted things to another level. Now, it continues to set viewership records regularly as tons of people watch the biggest sporting export.

Historically, betting shops also appeared on virtually every high street in the country. So, while online betting has introduced the populations of some countries to betting, it has been part of the culture for decades in the UK, with many people placing their bets on the football pre-match. Bookmakers and betting booths can even be found at stadiums around the country. 

Access to sports betting

One of the huge contributing factors to the number of people who are involved in sports betting these days is access. The UK is a country with high internet speeds, and most adults have a smartphone. This means that it is pretty easy to access the sites in question and find the top betting options. People can access virtually any market they want from their mobile devices. 

On top of this, people also have access to previews and statistics that can guide them on what they might choose to bet on, and they can do their research and speculate on upcoming fixtures. 

As we’ve already discussed, there has been access to gambling for a long time in the UK, partially through the fact that there are betting companies on the high street, but recent years and growing internet speeds have helped to make this simpler. People don’t even need to go to a shop to place bets – they can even bet in-play in the comfort of their own home while a match is happening, or if they are at the event. 

Conclusion

The UK is one of the most sporting-crazy nations there is, and some studies suggest that the average Brit watches more than 100 hours of sports on television every single year. This is also a country where gambling has been part of the culture for centuries and has had a more formal infrastructure for decades, contributing to its immense popularity.