Christmas is a time for celebration and cheer. Having a good craic right at the end of the calendar year feels like a just reward for having survived the rigours of another 12 months. Christmas is traditionally when time spent with friends and family significantly increases and retail spending takes a hike.
Something else that spikes during the festive period is sports betting. The entire month of December is one of the busiest times of the year for top sporting action. It’s packed with a host of English Premier League football matches, domestic rugby fixtures, some tremendous horse racing cards and the winter staple of the PDC Darts World Championship.
When top sporting action meets people relaxing with time off work, it can lead to people placing more bets around this time of the year, and not only on sports. Bookmakers also pump out novelty betting markets with a Christmas theme, such as whether Dublin will celebrate an official White Christmas and who will be top of the music charts on 25th December.
The industry has seen a consistent year-on-year rise in the popularity of online gambling, and peak periods always hit around the Christmas holidays.
What the statistics say
Statistics indicate that people do indeed dip into their wallets for a flutter on sports a little more often than usual around Christmas. This isn’t a phenomenon that’s isolated to Ireland or even the huge UK market – it’s a common trend across many European countries.
Figures published by the UK Gambling Commission reported the total online Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) in Q2 (July to September) of 2023 was £1.2bn, pretty much the same as it had been in the previous year’s comparative quarter. Q2 usually sees quite a large spike in betting from the previous quarter, due to the start of the new football seasons in England and mainland Europe, and historically is one of the biggest periods of the year.
However, the GGY rocketed up to £1.3bn in Q3 (October to December) of 2023, beating those Q2 numbers easily, with much of this driven by real event betting on sports. This was a significant increase of around 5% from the previous year’s numbers for the same quarter. Interestingly, it wasn’t just an increase in the volume of bets during this quarter that happened, but the number of monthly active accounts also rose 2% from the previous year.
To further illustrate the extra volume of bets, back in 2020, the GGY between November and December rocketed by 30% compared to how much had been played in October. The total number of bets and spins at casinos along with the number of active players increased by 6% in that short period, and online real event betting increased by 53%, fuelled by Christmas Premier League fixtures and other December sports events.
The numbers clearly indicate that more betting is done around Christmas, and here we explore the driving factors behind the phenomenon.
Reason 1 – High-profile events
People sitting at home over the Christmas period make for a prime audience for major sports events to try to capture. One of the biggest of those is the PDC Darts World Championship, and the massive indoor event wouldn’t likely pull as large of a TV crowd in the middle of summer, when people are enjoying long evenings outdoors in warm weather. However, when you’re stuck at home on dark winter nights, why not flick on the world’s biggest darts event?
The King George VI Chase is run annually on 26th December at Kempton. It’s one of the biggest Grade 1 National Hunt races around on a day when a lot of the population are not working. At Leopardstown in late December, punters are treated to the likes of the Future Champions Novice Hurdle, Savills Chase, December Hurdle and the Christmas Hurdle for a feast of Grade 1 features.
St. Stephen’s Day is a traditional day of football from the English Premier League, and there’s United Rugby Championship action from 26th December to 28th, including Munster vs Leinster and Connacht vs Ulster. There’s also a full list of Premiership Rugby across the Christmas weekend to look forward to.
Large events will simply attract more interest. Think of any sports event outside the Christmas period, such as the Six Nations, the Cheltenham Festival or the Champions League Final. These are the type of events that even casual punters are attracted to, simply because of the hype surrounding them. Hosting big events around Christmas is ideal, because it taps into that deep well of people’s free time.
Reason 2 – More time leads to more opportunity
How often do people have the luxury of extended time at home with nothing other to do than chill out, watch TV, and hang around the house? Busy working weeks, shopping, cleaning, doing the laundry, taking the kids to the park, and the general upkeep of the garden all take time out of life.
However, life slips into a lower gear for many people around the Christmas holidays. There is an increase in personal time to relax and to catch up with friends at the pub, where, of course, it’s likely that the top sports action will be on the television.
The extra free time means more time to plan bets carefully. Wagers should never be rushed decisions anyway, but having a little extra time to study horse form, or size up the latest head-to-head for a United Rugby Championship showdown, can make a huge difference. Just having more time to plan a strategy and study the latest markets can lead to more confidence in carefully selected bets.
Another important aspect that comes with free time is being able to watch live sports in a relaxed manner, which opens up further opportunities through live in-play betting. Watching a Christmas Premier League match unfold, punters can start thinking about markets such as Next Goalscorer, Half-time Result and Over/Under purely based on what they are seeing.
Accessibility
It’s predicted that there will be a peak of almost 5 million smartphone users in Ireland by 2029, and the growth of mobile usage has played a big part in the rise of online gambling. With mobile betting, there’s no need to skip out on the next round of drinks or haul yourself off a cosy couch to trudge down the high street through the freezing rain just to get a wager down.
Mobile betting apps, such as the one available at Tonybet, allow punters to explore the latest markets conveniently from wherever they are. These fast and safe platforms are ideal for checking features such as cash-out offers, promotions and the latest in-play odds on matches around Christmas.
Reason 3 – Festive promotions
Online bookmakers and casinos also understand the importance of the busy festive period. It’s a good time for them to try to bolster their number of active accounts and pull in extra bets. So, around Christmas, it’s common for online gambling sites to push plenty of promotions offering things such as free bets.
Tonybet, for example, has a Lucky December promotion with over €100,000 in casino and sports prizes throughout the month. It’s therefore typically a good time to open an account or pull in some added value for your regular betting options through enhanced odds, tournaments, matched deposits and forecast prediction games.
However, promotions should never be a sole driving factor for betting. Getting the offer of a free bet may feel like unwrapping a gift, but that’s usually only triggered by making an initial bet, and then requiring a second action of going back to use the free bet.
So, free bet offers are not risk-free, and never take a promotion just for the sake of fulfilling it. Check out the terms and conditions of any bookmaker or casino promotion that catches your eye, just to be aware of elements such as wagering requirements, bet minimums and qualifying odds.
Keeping your gambling reasonable over Christmas
Many people enjoy safe, responsible gambling as a hobby, but making wagers is something that needs to be carefully managed. Just because there is extra time on your hands around the Christmas period for betting, it shouldn’t lead to over-betting and going beyond your budget.
Budgeting what is available for wagering is the first important step in planning out your Christmas bets. Always be aware of your limits, even when emotions are running high while watching a match on the television, or getting wrapped up in betting discussions with friends over a few beers.
A way to help keep control is to use the account control features, such as using deposit and bet limits for safeguarding that are available at Tonybet. This can help in enjoying a safe, responsible Christmas betting period.
Also, keep an eye on friends and family, as the key signs of problem gambling are becoming withdrawn, irritability, irrational high-risk betting, and neglecting day-to-day responsibilities and self-care. There are many support systems available, such as GamblingCare, and other resources promoted by Gov.ie, such as Gamblers Anonymous, that can be reached out to.
Visit Tonybet today to find out more about managing your bankroll during the festive period!
