Sports Betting Trends 2020: The Highest Betting Volumes of the Year

Throwback to 2020, we discuss the most popular sports betters have enjoyed. In the United Kingdom, classic is still the trendsetters. The sports betting trends of 2020 suggest, that football, tennis and horse racing are still the biggest events and sports that the British public enjoys. 

Heading right into the year 2021, it is a good idea to take a step back and evaluate trends of the previous year. This article will discuss the most popular sports betting trends of 2020. Wondering what the statistics say? No need to look further, as we break down the top sports and events gamblers awaited last year. Having read some of these top occasions people wagered the most money on, we can easily make predictions for the new year. Some disciplines and events have all-time popularity, while others only became public knowledge recently. Let us dedicate some time to discuss the top 3!

Sports betting trends of 2020: #1 football

This might not come as a shock, but still, it is impressive that football is still the most popular sport to bet on. Of course, having been the most popular sport in the world according to statistics, betting on football makes a lot of sense. The amount of money the football industry handles from events to players, online sportsbook sites in the UK are always popping. Moreover, when we look at data from 1930 through 2020, football (or soccer) is on the top of the list – and by far.  According to some estimates, half of the planet is a football fan. How do we know? Over half of the population of the world tunes in to the World Cup each year. And only do we love to watch it, it is also the most popular sports we actively play.

Over 250 million people admit to actively playing football. This makes it the most-watched, most-played sport on the planet. With an absurd number of viewers, players, sponsors, football is the most popular in Europe. Knowing all this, it is only fair to name football the most profitable sport to place bets on. As the #1 sports betting trendsetter in 2020, football betting is straight-forward. You simply have to predict whether there will be a win or a draw and state the final score. For more experienced betters, sites like Unibet Sportsbook offers a number of exciting bets. Such as the number of corner-kicks, thrown-ins and yellow cards and so on. Our guess is the football will remain the single most popular sport we play and bet on, so don’t be shy to place bets in 2021.

#2 Tennis

Unibet Sportsbook currently has 895 bets on tennis. It is the second most popular sport by betting volume. We should mention, that tennis betting is also great for newcomers, due to its simple and straightforward betting options. While team sports usually enjoy greater popularity, in tennis every man and woman play for themselves. Yet still, tennis is number 2 in viewership globally. In fact, women’s tennis has outranked men’s tennis in the past in terms of TV viewership. Tennis betting grew a lot over 2020 thanks to the increased number of online sports betting and mobile apps and live bets during matches. In general, sports betting trends in 2020 suggest, that sportsbook users enjoy smartphone-friendly live betting options the most. See some of our most popular tricks when betting on tennis in 2021.

#3 Horse racing

Now, for the third most popular sports to bet on differs based on the country. For the purpose of this article, we examine the United Kingdom, therefore the traditional and ever so popular horse racing should be on our list. The popularity of horse racing is part of British culture and part of the evolution of sports betting. Now, thanks to online gambling sites in the UK, this scene is bigger than ever. Major competitions of the five English Classics attract a large sum of bets. Betting on horse racing can be both casual and super-advanced. But to clarify, to take home to big bucks, you need to know a variety of factors that affect the horse’s ability to win. Check out our horse racing 101 to get into it in 2021!

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