Football Fan Engagement Hits New High — Thanks to Betting?

Football in the UK is booming.

Even with the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, continued cost-of-living crisis and people having much less money to spend, football fan engagement is at an all-time high, which says a lot about how loved it is in the UK. Even when times are hard, fans will find a way to engage — and they’re doing it in even bigger numbers than before.

✓ During the 2022/23 season, Sky Sports reported that the average top-flight football match attendance in England broke 40,000 for the first time ever

✓ According to the Premier League, stadiums have been 98.7% full at Premier League matches since the 2023/24 season and season-on-season global audiences have grown by 7%, with China (+373%) and the US (+42%) seeing the biggest growth

✓ Advanced Television found that the last 6 months of 2024 saw fans watch almost 950 million hours of sport on Sky, with football being the most in-demand

✓ England’s Euro 2025 final defeat to Spain, which pulled in 23.8 million viewers, was the most-watched television broadcast of the year according to The Guardian

✓ YouGov recently found that 42% of fans would subscribe to a Netflix-style Premier League service if it was to ever happen

So, with fans more engaged and tuned in with football than ten and even twenty years ago, it begs the question: what’s driving all this engagement? After all, a popular argument at the moment is that football “fell off” and games simply aren’t as entertaining as they were in the past. Therefore, you’d expect attendances and streaming numbers to be down, but it’s the exact opposite.

The Stats Don’t Lie: Football Betting Is a Huge Engagement Driver

Really, there are lots of things driving the recent rise in football fan engagement. You have easily accessible streaming services like Sky Sports, TNT Sports, NOW TV, and even BBC iPlayer: if you want to stream football, you can. Then there’s the case of social media, where millions of fans now go to engage and interact with each other (the rise of the “fan account” has also been interesting to see, with countless people now launching X accounts exclusively dedicated to talking about football). And of course, it’s now much easier to buy matchday tickets, too, which is why in-stadium attendances have absolutely skyrocketed over the past five years.

Outside of all this, though, one key factor people forget about is this: betting.

Have you noticed over the past few years that football betting is suddenly everywhere? Tons of today’s kit sponsors are betting companies, gambling ads are constantly on television and social media, and building “accas” has now become part of the fan experience on matchday weekend. Love it or hate it, betting has become somewhat inescapable.

According to the latest research, 45% of the UK gambling population regularly place bets on football. On top of this, the UK Gambling Commision confirmed that last year (2024) saw online gambling companies make £1.1 billion — yep, billion — from football bets. Some of the big-name apps include Sky Bet, bet365 and William Hill, all of which have seen their user counts shoot up since 2020.

So, because more people are betting on football, more of them are watching it, too. It’s obvious, really: if you bet on a game, you become financially and emotionally invested in it. Therefore, you’re much more likely to stream the game or buy a ticket to go watch the action in-person. YouGov even found evidence supporting this, with 21% of football fans stating that betting makes them more engaged with the sport — not less.

Why is Football Betting So Popular Now?

It’s no secret that betting has always been part of football culture, going all the way back to the 60’s and 70’s. However, it’s fair to say that betting on football is now much more widely adopted than it used to be. In the past, it was sort of a niche activity, with only the most die-hard of football fans placing bets at their local bookies. Now, though, it seems like almost everyone is doing it. You only have to check social media on game days to see this: people will regularly share betting tips, post screenshots of winning “accas” and pretty much everything else in between. Betting on football is no longer niche at all — it’s completely normalised.

Why is this? Specifically, we can pinpoint the explosion of football betting in the modern era to a handful of things:

1. The Rise of Mobile Betting

The number one reason why football betting has gotten so popular is the rise of mobile betting. In a nutshell, smartphones have made betting on-the-go incredibly easy to do: you can now bet on football anytime, anywhere. As long as you have one of the betting apps ranked on BettingTools.com (they’re all free-to-download) you can bet on the Premier League, LaLiga or any other major league around the world you can think of. It’s that easy. And with smartphone usage projected to keep on increasing over the coming decade, the number of people betting on football via mobile will also continue to skyrocket, too.

1. Increased Betting Ads

Ever felt like there are more gambling ads on TV and social media than they’re used to be? Yep, that’s not your imagination playing tricks on you. These days, gambling ads are everywhere (and that’s probably an understatement). You even have ex-footballers (Jamie Carragher, Peter Crouch, the list goes on) and popular celebrities taking part in these ads to get more fans on board. And guess what? It's working. When people see gambling ads, it makes it feel more socially acceptable, especially when former professional footballers encouraging them to do it.

1. Social Media

Social media has also had a huge influence on the number of people betting on football. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become near impossible to open social media without seeing gambling ads on your feed or people you follow talking about bets they’ve placed. Essentially, social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) have become hotspots to discuss all-things football betting-related, so it’s naturally led to a surge in the number of people actually doing it. After all, when you see someone post a screenshot of a winning “acca” they placed, it’s hard not to want to try it yourself.

1. Bonus Bets and Other Rewards

Not too long ago, online sportsbooks figured something out: by offering bonus bets and other rewards, you can attract more customers. This is why all of today’s major betting sites — from bet365 to Coral — all offer regular bonus bets. For example, bet365 gives you £30 in Free Bets just for betting £10 after you open an account. These types of offers are difficult to turn down, as you’re essentially being given free money to bet with. And once you’ve opened an account, most people don’t want to close theirs. This is a genius market strategy and you can understand why all of the major sportsbooks are using it.

1. Odds Boosts

Finally, there’s “odds boosts”. Football fans have become hooked on betting over the past few years because of the frequent odds boosts that sportsbooks give out. If you don’t know how they work, it’s when a sportsbook increases the odds for a specific outcome (e.g. Harry Kane to score a brace for England) from what they would normally be to something higher. This then increases the overall payout, making the bet a lot more attractive. Odds boosts are pretty much guaranteed every Premier League weekend, too, so fans are constantly on the lookout for them.

Conclusion

Football fan engagement is peaking, right now. Across the Premier League and EFL, fans are the most engaged they’ve been for a long time, with much of this engagement being driven by betting. And with mobile betting apps now being downloaded in the millions and gambling ads reaching a point of saturation where you can no longer escape them, it’s obvious that football betting will keep rising for years to come. This is great from a fan-engagement perspective — but it’s also important that fans are encouraged to gamble responsibly while being provided with all the resources they need.