40% of New Punters Felt ‘Under Informed’ When Betting on the World Cup

One of the greatest threats to the UK gambling industry, aside from stringent regulation and eye-watering taxation, is prediction markets.

Site likes Polymarket and Kalshi simplify betting on sports, politics and other markets to simple ‘yes or no’ micro bets, with probabilities displayed as digestible percentages, rather than fractional odds.

Prediction markets generally don’t offer free bets or multiple wagers, which have been cited as one of the most considerable sources of confusion for new punters in particular – that’s according to a new Gambling Commission survey.

That concluded that 40% of all new punters, who wagered for the first time at the football World Cup in the summer, felt ‘under informed’ about specific promotions or betting as a whole.

Could this be the audience lost to prediction markets, if they are given the green light in the UK?

New Audience

The research, titled ‘Gambling, Engagement and Informed Choice at the 2026 World Cup’, was performed by Yonder Consulting on behalf of the UKGC in the weeks and months following the tournament.

Initially questioning 1,000 punters, the study focuses on the answers of 834 of the respondents – 166 were ‘removed’ after providing contradictory answers.

As expected, the World Cup attracted more casual bettors and an increasingly diverse audience, with 31% aged 55 or over and 29% female. Of those that identified as a ‘new’ punter in the survey, 68% were female and 40% were aged 18-34.

Unsurprisingly, their betting activity was largely governed by England’s progress in the competition. Participation levels amongst new punters peaked during the Three Lions’ semi-final against Argentina, whereas existing customers were more active during the group phase.

However, the number of bets placed dropped off markedly for the final, with England knocked out by Lionel Messi and co in that epic semis showdown.

World Cup Betting Behaviour

According to the findings, nearly half of all respondents bet on the World Cup as a means of fun or entertainment, with only one-in-three citing the chance to potentially win money as the main factor.

Less than half claimed bonuses and/or promotions on their user journey, with 37% using free bets to wager on the World Cup and 22% utilising enhanced odds offers or price boosts.

Many new bettors revealed that they had bet on the World Cup because their friends or family were, with a portion also citing a desire to ‘try something new’ or identifying the tournament as a ‘special event’.

It maybe won’t come as a surprise to learn that AI has become a key tool for younger bettors, with 12% of respondents aged 18-34 revealing that they asked a chat bot for recommendations of bets to place.

The question now is whether those new customer acquisitions will bet again… unfortunately, some of the survey responses suggest that a lack of information may prevent many from betting on future events.

Lack of Information

A staggering 50% of new punters that used an acca insurance promotion admitted to not knowing what the offer actually entailed – half of the respondents replying ‘don’t know’ when asked whether they would get their money back if one leg of their accumulator lost.

And only 60% of those characterised as new bettors felt that they had all of the information they needed to wager appropriately, compared to 91% of pre-existing punters.

Betting on football is emotive and money can be lost; if these customers feel as though they’ve lost out due to a lack of transparency, will they be less likely to bet again in the future?

The bookmakers’ loss could be the prediction markets’ gain should they gain UK approval...