Bookies expect huge betting surge as Euros set to unleash pent-up demand

Postponed soccer tournament could attract up to 3m wagers from across Europe with France favoured to win

Bookies are expecting a betting bonanza over the course of the European Championship, in part due to pent-up demand for big punter-friendly sporting events.

                  

Bookies are anticipating a huge surge in betting activity over the next month, with soccer’s European Championship tournament set to unlock pent-up gambling demand.

Postponed from last summer, Euro 2020 — which kicks off tomorrow — is set to provide a major boost to bookies, with an expected doubling in the number of people who bet on the last World Cup in 2018.

This year’s Euros is the first major betting-friendly sports tournament to take place since the onset of the Covid crisis.

Ladbrokes owner Entain said it expects more than 3m people across Europe to place bets with it on the tournament. 

That would be roughly twice as many as those who placed bets on the last World Cup. Entain said — unsurprisingly — that most of its Euros business has come from UK-based punters. 

Half of them, it said, have backed favourites France to win the tournament.