SEARCH NEWS:

 

Online Wagering in the UK is Expanding the Market, Forrester Research Says

This is the conclusion of a recent report by the UK office of Forrester Research, which says that 5 percent of Internet users in the UK had investigated online betting and 2 percent had actually bet online during the past three months.

"Betting is becoming an increasingly popular hobby," the report says.

The increment from online wagering is due to two characteristics of the online sites - attracting a broader audience demographically, and expanding the topics of wagering beyond the usual betting sports.

"The seedy, smoky reputation of high-street (traditional) betting shops, whilst probably now less deserved than it used to be, still deters a lot of women from placing bets. Online, this deterrent is entirely removed," Forrester says.

Internet betting also appeals to the more prosperous and better-educated consumer, what Forrester calls ABC1s.

"Many ABC1s have historically been deterred from betting by the high-street environment and the domination of horse racing as the gambler's sport of choice," Forrester says. "ABC1s are more likely to be golf, cricket or motor-racing fans; online, they have access to many more betting opportunities in these sports. For example, Bluesquare offers bets on tennis, cricket, snooker, baseball and NBA basketball."

The report estimates that one-third of UK consumers may bet on the Grand National (the biggest steeplechase horse race), the Football Association (soccer) Cup, or the Wimbledon tennis tournaments, and nothing else. For such infrequent bettors, Forrester says, online wagering is especially convenient.

There is also more opportunity online for betting on events that have nothing to do with sports, the report says. On a site called Flutter, for example, wagers can be made on soap-opera story lines, the love lives of celebrities and the box-office performance of new movies.

Flutter and Betfair have set up sites for one-on-one betting, which is not taxed in the UK. The sites don't set odds. They make their money by taking a percentage of the bets. Flutter has a maximum wager of £100 and Betfair a maximum of £2,000.

"Flutter and Betfair effectively act as an eBay of betting," Forrester says, "putting 'buyers' and 'sellers' together - they provide the intermediary services, such as looking after payments.

"This widens the subjects and types of bets available - in the medium- to long-term, users can create their own bets, as long as someone can be found to match them."

< Gaming News