FIFA World Cup boosts betting activity on Kindred
The ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has amplified online betting activity on Kindred. The Swedish operator recorded an increase in almost all kinds of bets that are offered on its platforms. The most notable spike, the operator said, was recorded in the pre-match betting activity, which recorded a 50 percent increase around a tournament that has already seen plenty of underdogs come out on top.
While the spike was expected due to the global nature of the tournament, the trends have still come as a surprise. ©Gustavo Ferreira/Unsplash
Of all the betting activity recorded on Kindred during the Qatar World Cup, the operator said 29 percent had come due to an enhanced version of their Bet Builder, which allows users to place parlay bets, among other things. As the competition headed from the group stage to the Round of 16, Kindred said that pre-match betting increased by 35 percent, which they said nearly doubled the numbers recorded during the 2020 European Championship.
As the World Cup enters its penultimate stages, players are expected to place more bets on the remaining four teams and their players. Kindred found that the Totals (O/U) bets have been the most desired bets during this tournament, finding them in 66% of bet builder wagers, followed by three-way betting in second place, while player props involving football’s global superstars like Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe were the third most popular type.
Time zones were a big factor in the trends
Kindred said that the expected spike due the global nature of the tournament apart, time zones explained why so many pre-match bets were placed during the World Cup, the majority of which came from the North American, Australian, and European markets. Only the late kick-offs of every matchday would start outside working hours in Europe. In North America and Australia, the games were played during the night or during working hours.
The tough schedule encouraged bettors to opt for pre-match bets rather than participating in live betting, which they could only do in games outside working hours and on the weekends. The unpredictability of the eventual outcomes added extra excitement to the pre-match betting activity.
Underdogs drove a lot more betting
Bettors backed the obvious favorites like Brazil, England, Germany, and Spain during the first round of fixtures. Gradually, there were upsets, and the giants were toppled by the underdogs who were carrying lucrative odds. As a result, the focus of several bettors shifted from favorites to the underdogs as the tournament moved from the group stage to the knock-out rounds.
This was evidenced by the fact that the tournament’s final four teams made up fixtures that involved a pre-tournament favorite taking on an unheralded team. The betting pattern is expected to remain the same, but the frequency of both pre-match and live-match betting is expected to be high as the competition nears its end.
Kindred said that 31 percent of all bets were placed in favor of the French team. Finalists were backed by 11 percent of all bettors, similar to numbers of eliminated teams like Brazil and Portugal.
Record-breaking betting on Brazilian sites elsewhere
A couple of weeks ago, when Brazil were still in the World Cup, the nation’s online betting activity graphs were going through the roof. The five-time winners were firm favorites to go all the way this time before they were dumped out of the competition in the quarterfinals by last year’s runners-up Croatia.
Spikes in betting activity were recorded on a global scale, with almost all operators across nations reporting positive numbers. The amount spent on betting during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been significantly higher than the aggregate betting amount recorded during the previous edition that was held in Russia.
