The results of a Gambling Commission survey around the men’s World Cup in December suggest that gambling participation increases off the back of major sporting events.

The Gambling Commission published the findings of the two-step study on the day that the England women’s team beat Australia 3-1 to progress to Sunday’s final against Spain.

The UK regulator commissioned Yonder to contact people on the weekend of the men’s final in Qatar and asked them about their gambling behaviours and attitudes over the last four weeks. Yonder then asked the same individuals in March to find out about any changes in gambling behaviour, with 811 people responding to both surveys.

The results indicated that gambling participation “slightly increased” among participants, the Gambling Commission said.

“This includes the proportion that bet on football online, although perhaps unsurprisingly the amount being spent on football over the previous four weeks decreased significantly after the World Cup,” it added.

The regulator also found that during the World Cup, significantly more people gambled on the tournament to add excitement to a game. It also found that betting on the World Cup was more of a “social experience” because people who had bet on the action were “more likely to do so because they were in the ‘Feeling Lucky’ and ‘Social Play’ categories, and less likely to be in the ‘For the Money’ category.”

One hundred and one participants who responded to both surveys said they had not bet on football in the 12 months before the World Cup, with 34 of that cohort subsequently placing a bet before the second survey in March.

Furthermore, 72 engaged in non-National Lottery gambling.

“This suggests that for approximately a third of people who were new or returning gamblers, betting on the World Cup did lead to continued (re)engagement with betting, and that there was also an observed increase in gambling engagement across a range of products,” the Gambling Commission said.

As for major sporting events’ impact on problem gambling, the regulator said the proportion of people in each band of the Problem Gambling Severity Index was “stable between the two saves,” but it added that it is treating the data with “caution” since it is the first time such figures have been collected in this way.