Entain points to ‘Wrexham Effect’ for spike in global betting activity
Fly-on-the wall sports documentaries including Welcome to Wrexham series highlighted as a catalyst for growth
Entain has credited the popularity of recent sports documentaries for driving betting activity across it brands in a trend the operator has labelled the ‘Wrexham Effect’.
Named after League Two side Wrexham, the Wrexham Effect has been attributed to significant betting growth across lower league football, NBA and F1 betting.
Wrexham were taken over by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in November 2020, with the club being promoted from the National League last season.
Entain noted its Ladbrokes and Coral brands had recorded a 59% increase in the number of bets placed on National League games in the 2021/22 season compared to 2017/18.
The figure outstripped growth in the Championship (15%), League One (32%) and League Two (24%) across the same period.
The Welsh side’s story has also attracted attention from Australia and the US thanks to the popular Welcome to Wrexham series on which gives a behind-the-scenes look at the third-oldest professional football club in the world.
Entain Australia recorded a 781% spike in bets placed on Wrexham games in 2022/23 compared to 2019/20.
Staggeringly, BetMGM recorded a 3,818% increase in bets involving the club between the 2020/21 season and 2022/23.
Elsewhere, Netflix’s The Last Dance docuseries, which focused on the Chicago Bulls’ in the 1990s, resulted in an increase in bets on NBA action.
Entain’s global brands reported a 46% jump in bets placed on the NBA between 2019/20 and 2020/21. The Last Dance was released in April 2020.
Even in the US where basketball is one of the big four sports, BetMGM saw a 61% increase in NBA betting between from 2021 to 2022.
Finally, the popularity of F1 has soared since Netflix released its Drive for Survive series in 2019.
Global Entain brands reported bets on F1 surged 63% from 2019 to 2022, with BetMGM noting a 142% leap between 2021 and 2022 alone.
Dominic Grounsell, Entain CCO, said: “We’ve seen a huge step change in the way fans engage with their favourite sports, and behind-the-scenes access in sporting docuseries has only heightened this further.
“They highlight the importance of finding new and innovative ways for fans to interact with sports and support their favourite teams, but also attract new fans to the sport – and they want to extend their entertainment by backing a team with a bet,” he added.