Be a good sport: how the Women's World Cup could have a lasting impact for operators

It ultimately wasn’t to be for the Lionesses. Decimated by pre-tournament injuries, England, high off last year’s Euros win, showed their credentials as one of the best teams in the world after making the final. A 1-0 loss to Spain, despite Mary Earps’ heroics in goal and her four-letter outburst after saving a penalty, were not enough to bring a first World Cup home to England in almost 60 years. 

It seems as if each major women’s football tournament could be labelled as the inflection point for interest, with this year’s edition no different. And that attention has extended to betting. Data released by Entain in August showed that 21% of total bets placed on England’s three group stage games were made by women across its Ladbrokes and Coral brands. This figure stood at 17% for last year’s Euros and just 13% for the 2019 World Cup. In Australia, there was a near-200% increase in bets placed on the tournament, while its US JV, BetMGM, reported three times the amount of wagers on the US Women’s National Team’s opening game compared to Lionel Messi’s debut for Inter Miami.

From the trading floor at online giant bet365, one month on since England’s loss in the final, Steve Freeth says this has been a common theme at leading operators. He comments: “It’s gaining in popularity in the mainstream media and the same can be said in the trading room because there has been an increase in turnover from 2019 [Women’s World Cup] to Euro 2022 and again to the 2023 World Cup.

“So much so that we had more slips on the England versus Spain final than the West Ham versus Chelsea game later in the day. And not just that, the slip count was not too dissimilar to the clashes between Manchester City versus Newcastle and Tottenham versus Manchester United the day before.”

Being able to take interest away from the Premier League is no mean feat. Concerns the World Cup might have been a stopgap between the close of the 2022-23 season and the beginning of the new one could be slightly abated. More data from YouGov demonstrated the interest in the tournament among British gamblers was larger than the general population. Impressive, given that, according to the BBC, the final achieved a peak viewership of 12 million.

Polling data from YouGov, derived from surveys conducted between 20 July and 20 August, the date of the final, showed that 31.3% of British punters had watched some part of the tournament compared to just 22.7% of the overall population. Additionally, using YouGov’s ‘Buzz Score’, which is a net score calculating the difference between the percentage of people hearing positive things about an event and the percentage of those hearing negative things, put the tournament in a positive light in the eyes of gamblers. The Buzz Score for the tournament increased from 15.4% on 20 July to 42.3% on 20 August among bettors, ahead of the general population, which increased from 10.4% to 35.2%, respectively.

So, while interest continues to ramp up, it begs the question: are women playing a role in driving this betting activity? Kindred Group racing product manager Ali Gill reveals 9% of its customers during the tournament were women. Christina Thakor-Rankin, principal consultant at 1710 Gaming, adds that the competition has played its part in attracting female bettors. She points out: “The most accurate phraseology is to say you’ve got men who are happy to bet on women’s sports but what it has also done is attract a new female demographic. Operators and women themselves are now promoting betting in relation to that demographic more than they previously were.”

Anecdotally, Gill draws on the success of the Lionesses for helping drive the “patriotic” action. He says: “The positive, in the UK at least, is the huge growth in the game since the Euros, driven in huge part of course by the success of the Lionesses in London a year ago. That success meant that England went into this event with a huge chance and very well fancied, and that just increased the interest and attention in the run up.”

Corner the market      

While Freeth notes there wasn’t a huge discrepancy between types of markets customers were heading to for the tournament, with bet builders and the operator’s Super Boost offer both gaining traction, the recognition of leading lights of the women’s game did result in an increase in player-specific markets. England forwards Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo, who Freeth adds had big liabilities heading into the final, and international stars Sam Kerr and Alex Morgan are already household names, or well on their way.

Kindred’s Gill says: “A lot of work has been going into expanding our offering for the event to make it as broad and varied as possible, and players took advantage. With name recognition of many players hugely increased, customers were more than happy to get into the goalscorer markets.

“While our existing sportsbook provision on the women’s game wasn’t as broad as it is elsewhere, a lot of hard work went in to expanding the overall offering ahead of kick-off so that our players could have the best possible betting experience on the event,” he adds.

However, All-in Diversity Project co-founder Kelly Kehn mentions the shortcomings that still exist in pricing up women’s football. She says: “There’s not a whole lot of data in order to put up multiple markets and we still have bias within trading and marketing teams. We might be missing a trick because not only is it a new product to offer sports bettors, but you might also capture a new market of fans.”

Looking ahead, and with the Women’s Super League (WSL) due to kick off in October, operators will be acutely aware of the benefit of women’s football to their respective offerings. However, it remains to be seen whether the interest from punters endures, especially with the return of the men’s Premier League, Champions League and the US sporting calendar, but nevertheless there is a confidence that it can be achieved, albeit with hard work.

Thakor-Rankin says: “Why would it not? I think the door is now open and it’s going to go more and more in that direction. When we look at how women’s sport is growing, especially football in the US, that is going to continue the momentum as the US continues to embrace sports betting.”

Gill notes: “I don’t think it will happen by default. It’s up to us as operators to increase and enhance the offering for the women’s game and give it due prominence. It’s up to broadcasters to continue giving the women’s game the push and the exposure that they have been for the Euros, World Cup and WSL in more recent times. And it’s up to everyone to keep interest high.

“But I think, for sure, the tournament has shown that as a betting proposition, the women’s game is hugely appealing, and our players at least certainly got stuck in, which I believe, and hope, we will continue to see from here on out,” he adds.

A lasting legacy for women’s and girls’ sport could well be coupled with a new major market for operators, should they play their cards right.