Entain Set for Three Million Fans Across Europe to Bet on the Euros

Entain, the global sports betting and gaming entertainment operator, is set for more than three million fans across Europe to place bets on the delayed 2020 UEFA European Championships (the Euros) – roughly twice as many as bet on the last World Cup in 2018. The tournament will run for a month, kicking off tomorrow when Italy plays Turkey.

So far, Entain’s UK customers have placed most bets. France is the most-backed to win with almost half of UK fans so far putting money on Les Bleus. This is not dissimilar to the situation at the last World Cup, when just 9% of UK-based fans backed England, compared to 47% in Belgium, 39% in Croatia and France, 20% in Spain and 16% in Germany betting on their national teams to win the tournament.

“Most betting will be after the tournament starts, and we expect to see roughly twice as many fans placing bets on the Euros as in the last World Cup, reflecting the growth of our business in the past three years,” said Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Chief Executive of Entain.

“With offers across most countries taking part we’re perfectly placed to offer fans exciting experiences.”

For the first time on a major event of this size, Entain will host almost all customer activity across its European brands on in-house technology excluding one recently acquired brand Bet.pt.

Between January and May, bets from 160 million Entain customers across Europe show some interesting trends, such as:

• Over 50% of all bets so far have been placed by fans in the UK – with roughly as many UK fans putting money on France to win as those betting England.
• France has so far attracted the most bets to win the whole tournament (28%), followed by    England (20%) and Belgium (12%).
• Across fans in all countries, almost half (47%) of bets, so far, are on which nation will win the Euros, followed by which player will be the lead scorer (15%). The second most popular bet for UK fans is the correct final score of the final.
• Country differences also emerge when it comes to betting on top goal scorers. On this measure, UK fans have put money on leading UK players Harry Kane with most bets (23%), marginally in front of Romelu Lukaku (22%) – Lukaku being the first choice for top goalscorer amongst fans outside the UK.

Entain’s player database also shows that, as a general trend, football fans from smaller European countries are more likely to bet on their national teams than those from larger ones.