SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
As Wrexham AFC prepares for its League Two debut this weekend after National League promotion and securing fame with the Welcome to Wrexham docuseries, Entain has revealed the ‘Wrexham Effect’ in sports betting.
Since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over the club in 2020, the operator’s Ladbrokes and Coral brands in the UK recorded an increase of 59% in the number of bets placed during the National League’s 2021/22 season from 2017/18.
This outpaces that of the Championship League, League One and League Two, which saw a 15%, 32% and 24% increase, respectively.
Entain lauded the ‘powerful impact’ that the docuseries had on the popularity of non-league football.
Dominic Grounsell, Chief Commercial Officer at Entain, said: “We’ve seen a huge step change in the way fans engage with their favourite sports, and behind-the-scenes access in sporting docuseries has only heightened this further.
“They highlight the importance of finding new and innovative ways for fans to interact with sports and support their favourite teams, but also attract new fans to the sport – and they want to extend their entertainment by backing a team with a bet.”
The gambling company also paid attention to how other non-league clubs have also seen the impact such as Notts County FC, who finished in second in the 2022/23 National League season and saw an 89% increase in the number of bets on the team from 2021/22.
Moreover, Entain Australia recorded a significant increase of 781% on the number of bets placed on Wrexham AFC football games, from 2019/20 to 2022/23.
Meanwhile, in the US, the number of BetMGM bets placed on any Wrexham game has increased 3818% from the 2020/21 season to the 2022/23 season.
The group said in a release: “Thanks to the celebrity status of the new owners, Wrexham AFC has seen a surge of popularity in the US, with Google Trends data even revealing that the Red Dragons have become one of the most searched for teams, more than the nation’s top soccer league, Major League Soccer (MLS).”
Similar experiences have occurred in other sports, such as the NBA which had a surge in betting popularity following the release of The Last Dance on Netflix in April 2020 – increasing by 46% from the 2019/20 season to 2020/21.
Several new fans were also brought to F1 following the popularity of the Drive for Survive series on Netflix – bets placed on races increased by 16% in 2022 compared to 2021, and by 63% compared to 2019, when the first season aired.
“At Entain, we’re constantly monitoring how this movement is evolving, listening to our customers, and creating content that resonates with them,” Grounsell continued.
“Coral’s ‘Taking the Reins’ documentary series is a prime example of this and reinforces our commitment to bringing moments of excitement to fans beyond the track, pitch, or court.”
