Belgium’s national gambling regulator, the Kansspelcommissie (KSC), has highlighted that football remains the key driver of the local sports betting market, signified by the figures in its latest report.
The paper examined Belgian betting behaviours during the 2024 Euros and, for the first time, the Paris Olympic Games – all based on an amalgamation of operator-provided statistics and proprietary data collected by the KSC.
As a side note, the Commission reminded that although the definite highlight is the trends from those two major sporting competitions, the gambling figures also represent all legal gambling in Belgium, as well as all other sports like basketball and horse racing, legally offered to Belgian punters.
As far as the online player base is concerned, new accounts – of players who opened one for the first time ever – were being created at an average of 787 per day prior to the 2024 Euros.
Following the tournament’s launch, this figure increased by 31% to 1,031 per day, only to fall back again to 317 after the championship had ended. Belgium’s participation in the Euros – where they were knocked out at the Round of 16 by neighbours France – also played a big role in the influx of new players.
For the Olympics, the number of new players was less substantial, with 368 new accounts being made per day in the period between 26 July and 11 August.
Diving into the financial data generated from online bets, the daily average of stakes prior to the 2024 Euros was €6.5m – with redistributed winnings averaging €5.98m. During the Championship, this rose to €8.6m in stakes and €7.54m in daily winnings.
The peak of new players during the 2024 Euros (1,031) however fell short of that seen during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (1,487) and that during the 2020 Euros edition (1,175).
In total, the 2024 European Championship attracted 31,481 new players – in comparison to the 36,418 from the 2020 Euros and the 43,122 newly registered bettors during the 2022 World Cup.
Looking at the age bracket of new players that registered in time for the 2024 Euros, 31.4% were aged between 21 and 29, while 25.79% were between the ages of 18 and 20.
This summer was the last time that those aged between 18 and 20 in Belgium were able to place a bet, as new rules came into force at the start of September setting the minimum age to 21 for all types of gambling.
Changes to Belgium’s Gambling Act 1999 were spearheaded by Green Party Minister Stefaan Van Hecke, who managed to win the approval of the Chamber of Representatives back in January when he asked for tougher compliance protection measures.
The 21 model follows the steps of Greece, with both countries being the only two in Europe currently having a higher gambling age limit in place.