Have Gambling and Betting Seen a Rise after England’s Strong Showing at the EUROs 2020?
The EUROs 2020 was quite a scintillating tournament that was filled with all sorts of feelings and emotions. One of the major effects of the tournament was felt by the gambling industry, especially in the UK. How did the EURO 2020 and the strong performance of the English national team impact the world of betting and gambling? This article will discuss the performance of the Three Lions at the EUROs 2020, and the impact it had on the whole gambling industry.
But first, let’s understand what happened during the EUROs 2020.
England’s Strong Performances During the EUROs 2020
During the EUROs 2020, England showed a strong showing managing to reach the final against Italy. How were they able to perform so well? The answer is simple – tactical flexibility. England’s head coach, Gareth Southgate shaped and moulded an attacking-minded team that could dismantle the strengths of any opponent and expose the weaknesses in them.
The tactical flexibility was evident when they switched between back fours and back threes, and consistently shuffled the type and shape of attack and midfield further up the field. But the most significant part of the tournament was the final between England and Italy.
The EURO 2020 Final Showdown
During the EUROs 2020 final, Southgate played a masterstroke for 30 minutes, with the surprise wing-back positioning of England’s team enabling them to pull the Italian team across the field in possession and still leave sufficient men behind to prevent any incision from Italy’s strikers on the other end. The goal that Manchester United’s left-back, Luke Shaw, scored highlights perfectly the ability that the English team had in catching their rivals off-guard and stretching them.
However, the problem with a back three defensive line is that it can change into a back five in case of pressure and that is exactly what happened to the Three Lions. As the half went on, Italy took control of possession and started wearing down their rivals.
The wing-backs of the English team, who had started the game tormenting their opponents, were pinned back and Italy’s defence was dictating play in front of the deep-lying defence of the English national team. This kept going on for long spells in the game.
Using that approach was asking for trouble – which they found but luckily, Harry Maguire intervened leading to a corner that was bundled in by Italy’s Leonardo Bonucci.
At that point, Gareth Southgate sent Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka in and changed their formation to a 4-3-3. The English team improved instantly after that formation switch. The problem was, they had remained passive for a lengthy period and had a hard time catching up with their opponents.
England’s wing-back system worked amazingly for about half an hour. Then Italy adapted swiftly and England responded slowly and lost the game.
What Impact Did England’s Strong Showing at the EUROs have on Gambling and Betting?
Most importantly, there was a massive surge of interest in gambling and betting in the UK as England was considered as the firm favourites to beat the high-flying Italian side in the final of EUROs 2020. Many people rushed to their bookies to bet on their national team and bookmakers made a fortune during this season. This even led to some people looking to find the best casino sites as betting and gambling are naturally closely connected and many operators offer both sports betting and gambling options.
Even before the EURO tournament had barely started, England was considered top favourites to win the tournament, although several betting sites in the UK had assigned England woefully low odds. The reason for the extremely low odds was mainly fuelled by myriads of bettors backing Southgate’s troops heavily. This was a display of overconfidence among the fans who believed that England would emerge as the EURO 2020 winners.
Since England was bet on by numerous fans leading to their odds dropping, many bettors saw this as an opportunity to bet on the other teams that bookmakers predicted would lose, and try to make money from them. Many people bet on outstanding teams in the tournament such as Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, among others.
The EUROs attracted people from all over the world, and bookmakers didn’t fail to maximize this business opportunity. They partnered with teams to advertise themselves and attract even more punters to their websites. From stadiums to streets, banners and billboards were visible in a bid to attract bettors. In turn, this increased the number of bettors as well the bookies’ revenues.
As a result, the performance of the English team at the EUROs 2020 had a ripple effect on the entire gambling industry. Some bettors bet on whether certain players or teams would score or not, whether a team would receive a penalty or not, the number of fouls or cards awarded, and so on. In the end, it resulted in gambling and betting activities increasing multiple-fold. That said, the Scots alone bet a total of over $300 million backing their national team, the Tartan Army.
Final Thoughts
To say football is a popular sport would be an understatement. Football is a sport revered not only in England and Europe but across the entire globe. Gambling and betting have thrived for decades simply for the reason that millions of people adore football.
In the EUROs 2020, the strong performance by the Three Lions played a significant role in driving up gambling and betting activities and this is evidenced by the increase in profits that bookmakers made during that season. Many people bet on their favourite teams and others saw it as an opportunity to bet on the underdogs who were allocated impressive odds and make a fortune.
