Odds are Cheltenham week will boost bookies’ transactions by 50 per cent says Worldpay
This week's Cheltenham Festival could see online bookies process more than 50 per cent more betting transactions this week, according to global payments provider Worldpay.
Estimates from the 2015 event suggest that bookmakers saw a phenomenal 47 per cent rise in transactions during the four-day festival, as racing fans sought to beat the bookies.
The climax of the jump racing season, Gold Cup Day, was by far the most popular for punters, with a whopping 57 per cent uplift in the number of bets placed. Based on these figures, the bookies' peak is yet to come as Gold Cup Day will be held tomorrow, on Friday 18.
Despite the increase in transactions, the average value of individual bets decreased by six per cent during the Cheltenham week last year, as more recreational and one-off customers weighed up their odds.
Mobile devices could be a big driver of higher bet-placing in 2016, Worldpay expect.
"The UK online gambling market generated around £3bn last year, and with technology continuing to propel the industry forward, we expect these figures to increase significantly as more punters use mobile devices in their attempt to win big," Karl MacGregor, vice president of gambling and ecommerce at Worldpay, said.
"The convenience and speed online gambling offers can only make it easier than ever for today’s mobile-first customers to try their luck, and bookmakers such as Paddy Power Betfair continue to invest heavily in optimising their websites to meet this growing demand."
Worldpay announced an agreement with Paddy Power Betfair earlier this week, which will see Worldpay provide payment processing services and gambling expertise to the gambling giant for its online customers.