UK betting sites caught out as online betting goes mainstream

Punters unable to place a bet 10% of the time for big sporting events, as non-traditional events soar in popularity

Online betting is now mainstream, causing non-traditional sporting events to soar in popularity. UK sites are struggling to cope with last minute surges to place bets, forcing customers to turn to competitors.

This new trend has opened a chasm in online performance. International competitors are taking advantage, with two of the top three online performers for the UK betting market found to be international players. There was also a gulf between online pure play companies and the sites of high street betting operations, with the top four performers all pure plays.

These are the key conclusions of the SciVisum Online Betting Study, which investigated the performance of 25 online betting sites over a period of five months. SciVisum's testing adopted a ‘mystery punter’ approach, visiting the sites and attempting to make a user journey every five minutes throughout the day.

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UK betting sites caught out as online betting goes mainstream

Punters unable to place a bet 10% of the time for big sporting events, as non-traditional events soar in popularity

Online betting is now mainstream, causing non-traditional sporting events to soar in popularity. UK sites are struggling to cope with last minute surges to place bets, forcing customers to turn to competitors.

This new trend has opened a chasm in online performance. International competitors are taking advantage, with two of the top three online performers for the UK betting market found to be international players. There was also a gulf between online pure play companies and the sites of high street betting operations, with the top four performers all pure plays,

These are the key conclusions of the SciVisum Online Betting Study, which investigated the performance of 25 online betting sites over a period of five months. SciVisum's testing adopted a ‘mystery punter’ approach, visiting the sites and attempting to make a user journey every five minutes throughout the day.

“UK betting sites are failing to keep pace with mainstream consumer demand,” said Deri Jones, CEO, SciVisum. “Betting around non-traditional events like the Boat Race is now just as popular as the Champions League, but 13.5 per cent of our ‘mystery punter’ attempts for the event failed. With such shoddy service they might as well include a link to their competitors’ sites.”

Untraditional sports soar in popularity

Betting on non-traditional events has soared with punters, with seven of the top ten events impacted by poor web performance not in football or horse racing. Betting around the Boat Race was the number one problem event for sites. The most popular non-traditional events also included the China Open snooker, the Grand Prix, the test cricket New Zealand v England, the Masters tennis series, Snooker World Championship, World Golf Championships and the London Marathon. Extra punters on St Patrick’s Day also caused sites to struggle.

“Betting with a couple of clicks from the comfort of your own home has changed the betting landscape. It is now no longer the preserve of football and horseracing,” continued Jones. “The Internet has made betting more accessible and widened the types of sports involved – and the pool of punters. The market is more competitive than ever – with increased operating costs, high customer acquisition costs, fickle customers, reduced yields per player and reduced profitability. UK sites need to up the ante if they are to remain in the game.”

Performance chasm

Increased pressure on sites has led to a performance chasm between the best and worst sites. The worst performer rejected nearly 40 per cent of SciVisum’s mystery punters. But the three best performers, www.expekt.com, www.centrebet.com and www.bet365.com, fulfilled 99.9 per cent of punter attempts.

Of the top three performers, two were international players: www.expekt.com and www.centrebet.com.

There was also a gulf between online pure play companies and the sites of high street betting operations. Of the top ten best performers, only four high street operations made the grade, with the best high street performer,www.totesport.com coming in at number five, www.coral.co.uk, coming in at number six, followed by www.paddypower.com at number eight and www.stanjames.com coming tenth..

“If a punter can’t place a bet with one site they’ll head straight for the competition – and not come back again,” continued Jones. “It can’t be a surprise for a betting company that the Champions League quarter final is going to be a biggie – but we found more than one in ten of our ‘mystery punter’ attempts failing.”

“The High Street bookies came out particularly badly. They are guilty of complacency – the market has changed, and they need to move quickly – before the international players eat them for breakfast.”