Will Women Ever Become the Dominant iGaming Demographic?

Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, April 26, 2024

An incredibly large number of industries are subject to age-old and often inaccurate stereotypes, and the iGaming space is no exception to this rule. In fact, it’s widely believed that online casino and sports betting verticals are dominated by men, but this is arguably a misconception that doesn’t take into account the nuances that exist in the marketplace.

Also, it ignores the fact that females have been increasingly influential in the betting space, throughout the digital age large number of industries are subject to age-old and often inaccurate stereotypes, and especially since 2017. We’ll explore the most common iGaming demographics below, while asking how these are continuing to evolve.

The iGaming Market in the UK – An Overview

Online sports betting and casino wagering dominate the iGaming space, combining to create a market that was worth £6.4 billion in 2022. This marketplace was worth £6.5 billion in the year ending March 2023, and while this is down slightly on the £6.9 billion posted in 2021, it continues to climb post-pandemic.

While the overall size of the iGaming market in the UK may be continuing to recover slowly from the impact of the coronavirus, the participation level of women continues to rise. Overall, some 56.2% of frequent online gamblers are identified as male, with females comprising the remaining 43.8%.

In terms of the total UK population, some 29% of men gambled regularly online in 2023. A further 24% of women bet frequently, with this figure continuing to rise on these shores. Women aged between 35 and 54 are also more likely to bet online, in line with their economic status and circumstances.

The participation rate among 35 and 54-year-old women increases to 32%, while there are certain verticals in which female players now outnumber men. For a period in 2022, women carved out a 41% market share in the iGaming space, highlighting the growing rates of participation and the shifting landscape within the industry.

In this respect, the online gambling sphere continues to experience a similar trend to the gaming industry. Here, the females accounted for 49% of the total gaming audience in 2012, but three years later, a study discovered that the percentage had actually increased by three points to 52%. This meant that women had evolved to become the dominant gaming demographic.

Will Men Continue to Dominate the iGaming Space and Net Spend?

For now, there’s no immediate sign of women superseding men as the dominant iGaming demographic. This is particularly true in the realm of sports betting, where male bettors are especially dominant and spend considerably more than females. Some 30% of men place in-play bets on sports too, compared to just 11% of women.

This highlights another key betting trend, with men known to spend significantly more on bets than women. This at least partially explains why the total iGaming industry value and betting handles have remained largely steady in recent years, despite the rising participation rates among women and UK adults as a whole.

Whilst 51.8% of female gamblers spend between £1 and £10 per week online, for example, just 19% wager an amount between £11 and £20. Conversely, a meagre 35.9% of men bet £10 or less a week, with 25.4% staking anywhere between £11 and £20. Men are therefore more likely to bet far above the national weekly average, irrespective of their financial circumstances, age or academic background.

To provide further context, an estimated 3.56% of men find themselves in the £101 to £250 per week demographic. Conversely, 2.2% of all female gamblers sit within this bracket. Incredibly, more than twice as many men spend more than £500 each week online, as women continue to operate at the lower end of the market and target specific verticals such as virtual bingo (which requires lower stake amounts and its typically more focused on fun and interactive experiences).

When it comes to frequency, the statistics also show that men are six-times more likely to gamble than women on average. Whilst this figure fluctuates across different verticals, of course, it’s clear that male gamblers spend considerably more than women and also wager on a far more regular basis.

These numbers also impact areas such as problem gambling and average levels of betting debt. Last year, figures showed that men are between 2.5 and 7.5-times more likely to develop problem gambling behaviours, such as addiction or poor bankroll management. This is also reflected by the average gambling debt across the sexes, which is between £40,000 and £75,000 higher for men than their female counterparts.

The Last Word – Will Women Ever Evolve to Become the Dominant iGaming Demographic?

Ultimately, it cannot be denied that women are becoming increasingly active in the iGaming market, whilst their participation continues to grow at a faster rate than men across a number of different verticals. Although these are lower-yield verticals such as bingo, there’s no doubt that female gamblers are becoming increasingly influential in the minds of betting brands.

It’s also reasonable to suggest that women are now becoming increasingly inclined to wager their money on high yield products such as sports betting and slot gaming, creating a scenario where their influence on operators continues to grow further. However, we’re at the beginning of this trend, with males continuing to dominate sports betting, poker and table game verticals for the time being.

The question that remains, of course, is will women ever supersede men in the iGaming market? The answer remains unclear, but males currently remain the single most important demographic from the perspective of betting brands. This is true over the course of their lifetime as customers, especially when you also consider betting volumes and total spend.