In the World Cup football report presented today, the Gaming Commission (GC) comes to 10 fascinating observations with figures and provides an interesting insight into the gambling behaviour of Belgians during the 2022 World Cup.
For online betting, we again feel the impact of a major football tournament, while the offline sector experiences a very significant drop.
Online, bets amounted to EUR 217 million and almost 14 million betting tickets were sold. These are records never before achieved online, but they do not compensate for the drop in offline betting. Compared to the 2018 World Cup, offline betting dropped from EUR 130 million to EUR 61 million and the number of betting tickets sold fell by almost two thirds.
A total of 586,516 people played online, more than 43,000 of them for the first time. Each day there were almost 220,000 players, mostly men under 40, who placed an average stake of EUR15.63 per bet, which is also lower than in the past.
Magali CLAVIE (President of the GC): "Although online betting is undoubtedly becoming increasingly popular, most gamblers seem to limit their spending and keep control over the amount they spend. Even though it is impossible to predict the future behaviour of (new) players, it is reassuring to see that a World Cup creates only a temporary fascination and normalcy returns once the championship is over. This is very important for the GC because it is essential that betting remains purely recreational and does not degenerate into gambling addiction. The GC will continue its education and awareness campaigns, especially for young people, and continue to advocate for better regulation of online gambling."
You can find all the findings in the full report here. The report is only available in Dutch and French.