Entain anticipates that more than three million people will place bets on EURO 2020, with almost half of UK fans backing France to be the tournament’s winners.
Ahead of the tournament starting tomorrow, Entain – the operating firm heritage bookmakers’ Ladbrokes and Coral – has revealed that its UK customers have placed the most bets so far with many putting money on home nation sides.
However despite taking-in the nation’s patriotic bets, more than 28% of wagers have been placed in favour of Les Bleus winning the Euros, followed by England which has amassed 20% of the total bets and Belgium with 12%.
“Most betting will be after the tournament starts, and we expect to see roughly twice as many fans placing bets on the Euros as in the last World Cup, reflecting the growth of our business in the past three years,” said Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Chief Executive of Entain.
“With offers across most countries taking part we’re perfectly placed to offer fans exciting experiences.”
Fans have backed Harry Kane as the top goal scorer with most bets placed on the England captain (23%), marginally in front of Romelu Lukaku (22%) – Lukaku being the first choice for top goal scorer amongst fans outside the UK.
This year’s tournament marks the first time that Entain will host “almost all customer activity across its European brands on in-house technology”.
Entain believes that this will help the company to better tailor its offers for fans, with the platform giving “unique insight into the expectations and betting behaviors of fans across the majority of countries taking part in the tournament”.