UK Gambling Industry Anticipates Record Growth Amid Major Sporting Events

The British betting industry is about to experience unprecedented growth in the number of users as Euro 2024 and Royal Ascot coincide. The findings of app growth solutions firm SplitMetrics show a surge in gambling app downloads which could make this month one of the biggest ever for the sector.

Euro 2024 and Royal Ascot Are Expected to Drive Record Downloads

In the build-up to Euro 2024, Android gambling app downloads increased by 30% year-on-year. Top horse racing events such as The Grand National and Cheltenham have historically seen big spikes in app downloads with average weekly downloads for the top 17 UK gambling apps reaching 79,000 in 2024 — surging to 124,000 during the Grand National and then 143,000 during Cheltenham — marking the highest download weeks of the year.

This trend was followed during World Cup 2023, seeing a significant boost with an additional 369,000 new downloads over the tournament period. This momentum has continued into 2024 with around a further 30% year-on-year increase in downloads across the gambling industry.

With both the Euro 2024 and the Royal Ascot falling at similar times, projections are suggesting UK Gambling Apps could see their highest monthly downloads ever. Data from SplitMetrics highlights a 15% rise in downloads for the top 17 sports gambling apps during the two weeks before the tournament compared to the same period last year with downloads up from 96,000 to 110,000.

Sports Betting Apps Surge to 20M Downloads, with Paris Olympics Fueling Further Growth

bet365, Sky Bet, Paddy Power, Coral and Ladbrokes are among popular apps driving this uplift, with an estimated total lifetime download figure for sports betting apps of about 20 million as of June 16, 2024, adding about 2 million new users alone within H1 2024.

This rapid growth underlines how popular sports betting has become in Britain and sets it up for its biggest growth year yet. Additionally, engagement and downloads are expected to be boosted further by the Paris Olympics, potentially adding another 4 million new users.

Thomas Kriebernegg, general manager at SplitMetrics said: “Each download represents a new user for these businesses which, if converted to long-term customers, would have a huge impact on their bottom line. An accessible and seamless user experience will be a big factor in whether these apps will be able to retain the new users and convert them into loyal customers.”

Kriebernegg further added that big worldwide events draw countless potential customers into different parts of the app market but they also bring in stiff competition. He recommended that companies differentiate themselves from competitors by investing in intelligent and focused marketing strategies. He also said that this could be used as a chance for small-scale enterprises to outperform and speed up their expansion.