Grand National betting volume for this year’s edition could reach new heights according to a survey commissioned by OLGB, with 22% of Brits planning to bet on the famed steeplechase.
YouGov, who surveyed 2,061 participants on behalf of sports betting platform Online Betting Guide (OLBG), carried out the study in order to uncover the betting habits of regular horse racing punters and sporadic gamblers alike, ahead of the most valuable jump race in Europe.
Saturday 15th April is when the UK’s most famous horse race is scheduled to take place this year, and according to OLBG’s findings, around one in five of the respondents said they planned to bet on the Grand National.
When delving deeper into the data set, around 9% of the total figure said their punt on the world’s most famous steeplechase would be their one and only horse racing wager of the year, while of the 22% who planned to bet, a larger proportion of men said they would (26%) compared to female respondents (18%).
In a rather eye-brow-raising admission, another finding among those who planned to gamble was the hesitancy to sacrifice that bet for other spending.
For example, just 14% admitted they wouldn’t relinquish their Grand National bet to purchase flowers or chocolates for their partner, while a staggering 88% said would give up their Netflix subscription if it meant they didn’t miss out on the race.
Despite the gradual introduction of affordability checks across betting platforms, to which 65% of bettors admitted they were in opposition to in a separate OLGB-YouGov survey, most of the respondents in this study still planned to place their stakes online.
53% of those betting this weekend said they would online or an a mobile app, 11% at Aintree itself and 18% at a physical high street bookmaker.
Elsewhere in the study, just over one in ten (11%) asked say they perceive betting as a form of entertainment, similar to going to the cinema or the theatre.
