Optimove World Cup Pulse: France records 2,000% change in total bet amount

It’s hard to believe it’s over. This World Cup brought plenty of joy and excitement to millions across the globe. In the end, Argentina and Messi lifted the coveted trophy, putting the finishing touch on an illustrious career of one of the greatest ever players.

But when you step off the pitch and peak behind the tournament scenes at the data the World Cup Pulse allows, a different kind of action emerges. You see that Brazil stood out in retention, Belgium in new players and France pulled out all the stops in total bet amount.

French bettors demonstrated their support and confidence in their national team by placing increasingly higher deposits as their team progressed through the tournament. Last week we reported a 1,000% change in the total bet amount. This week? It’s up to 2,000%.

Number of bettors and bet amount change

Globally, the total number of players peaked in the tournament’s first week (24 November) and the total bet amount peaked on 22 November. The final week showed increased activity, which is understandable. While the final did not generate a new peak, it’s important to remember that it’s just one game compared to multiple games per day at the beginning of the tournament.

Bet distribution by type

Globally, the breakdown live/pre-match was 56%-44%. Live betting peaked at 64% on 7 December, when Portugal faced Switzerland and Spain met Morocco in the quarter-finals.

The surprising nation in bet by type was Hungary. Here, 81% of bets in Hungary were live bets during the day of the final, with a peak of 85% on 14 December, corresponding to France versus Croatia semi-final.

Bet amount by channel

Mobile led that match up, as expected, with an average split of 15%-85% in its favour. The final recorded a 12%-88% split, a slight uptick in mobile betting (12%).

Most nations we looked at showed a similar split. Turkey showed the highest mobile betting percentage at 92%, while Poland showed the opposite behaviour, with just 56% of bets coming from mobile.

Conversion – weekly number of first-time depositors

The initial excitement brought a massive wave of new players. It started with a bang – 129% change in the number of first-time depositors (FTDs), but understandably, slowly declined.

Belgium peaked at 349% change in FTDs, leading all nations throughout the tournament, finally settling on 131% change.

Reactivation – weekly number of active customers change

Globally, reactivation of previously active players peaked early, in the first week of the tournament, peaking at 103% change, compared to the June 2022 baseline.

Brazil peaked at 252% in the first week of the tournament, leading all nations. Reactivation jumped back up in Ireland (below) in the final week, reaching similar levels to week one.

Retention – weekly number of active customers change

The World Cup is a game of two halves. The first half is all about new players. The second half is about retention. Globally, retention peaked at 67% change from the June 2022 baseline.

Brazil stood out in that metric, showing a peak of 143% in retention rate during the third week of the tournament, currently at 116% change, more than double the global average.