Official Statistics

Community and Engagement Survey 2025/26 - live sport and gambling: report

Updated 14 August 2026

Applies to England

This report summarises the key findings for the live sport and gambling sector in the Community and Engagement Survey (CES) for 2025/26.^{[footnote 1]} Reports for other sections within the CES are available on the annual web page.

The CES asked about their attendance at live sport events and their engagement with gambling during sporting events in the last 12 months.

The CES is representative of people aged 16 and over in England. For simplicity, we will sometimes refer just to “people” in our reporting.

For information on how to use and interpret these statistics see the note available on the supplementary documents page.^{[footnote 2]}

1. Key Findings

1.1 Headline

30% of people aged 16+ in England watched live sports in person at least once in the last 12 months, no significant difference from 2024/25 (30%).

By ITL2 area, there was a 11 percentage point difference in the proportion of people who attended live sporting events, from 36% in Inner London - West to 25% in Essex. 

71% of people aged 16+ watched live sports on TV at least once in the last 12 months, a 4 percentage point decrease from 2024/25 (75%).

1.2 Live sports watched

As shown in Figure 1, of the 30% of people who watched any live sports in person, the most popular sports to watch were Men’s or Women’s football (63%), Men’s football (59%), Rugby (21%), Cricket (17%) and Some other type of sport (14%) (any sport not listed in Figure 1)^{[footnote 3]}.

As shown in Figure 1, of the 71% of people who watched any live sports on TV, the most popular sports to watch were Men’s or Women’s football (54%), Men’s football (49%), Women’s football (28%), Tennis (28%) and Rugby (25%).

Figure 1: Live sporting events watched in person and on TV, by popularity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

Of the 30% of people who watched live sports in person, 60% said all of the events they watched were professional sports where the participants were being paid, whereas 13% said most of them were paid. 12% of people said none of the events were professional sports where the participants were being paid. 

1.3 Levels of placing bets on live sports and horse racing

5% of people placed a bet on a sporting event (excluding horse racing) while attending in person. This compares to 10% of people who placed a bet on a sporting event (excluding horse racing) online. 

13% of people had placed a bet on a horse racing event. Of these, 69% had placed a bet online, for example through a website or app, 28% had placed a bet in person at the racecourse with an on-course bookmaker or self-service terminal, 19% had placed a bet in a betting shop and 1% placed a bet in another way.
Of those who had placed a bet on a horse race either online or in another way (excluding in person at the racecourse or in a betting shop), 19% placed an online bet while attending the event whilst 3% placed the bet before arriving at the event.

1.4 Barriers to engagement^{[footnote 4]}

As shown in Figure 2, the most popular reasons selected by respondents for not attending live sporting events were “I’m not interested” (43%), “No reason in particular” (20%) and “I cannot afford it” (19%).

Figure 2: Barriers to attending live sporting events, by reason, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2. Demographics: Who attended live sporting events?

Demographic questions in the survey are voluntary and self-reported by the respondent.

2.1 Age

As shown in Figure 3, people aged 60 to 64 (32%) were more likely to attend live sporting events compared with the average for people in England (30%), while people aged 75 to 79 (22%), 80 to 84 (17%) and 85 or over (9%) were less likely to attend live sporting events compared with the average for people in England (30%).

Figure 3: Attendance of live sporting events, by age, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.2 Disability status

As shown in Figure 4, non-disabled people (34%) were more likely to attend live sporting events than disabled people (22%). 

Figure 4: Attendance of live sporting events, by disability status, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.3 Sex^{[footnote 5]}

As shown in Figure 5, males (39%) were more likely to attend live sporting events than females (21%). 

Figure 5: Attendance of live sporting events, by sex, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.4 Gender Identity^{[footnote 6]}

As shown in Figure 6, people whose gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth (12%) were less likely to have attended live sporting events than people whose gender identity was the same as their sex registered at birth (30%). 

Figure 6: Attendance of live sporting events, by gender identity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.5 Sexual Orientation^{[footnote 7]}

As shown in Figure 7, heterosexual or straight people (31%) were more likely to attend live sporting events than people from “Other sexual orientation” classification (19%), gay or lesbian people (20%) and bisexual people (24%).

Figure 7: Attendance of live sporting events, by sexual orientation, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.6 Religion

As shown in Figure 8, compared with the average for people in England (30%), people who reported having no religion (32%) were more likely to attend live sporting events. People from the Any other religion classification (16%), Muslim people (18%) and Buddhist people (18%) were less likely to attend live sporting events compared with the average for people in England (30%).

Figure 8: Attendance of live sporting events, by religion, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.7 Ethnicity

As shown in Figure 9, people from the White Irish (39%) and White British^{[footnote 8]} (32%) ethnic groups were more likely to attend live sporting events compared with the average for people in England (30%). People from the Bangladeshi (9%), Pakistani (17%), Any other Asian background classification (21%), Black African (24%), Indian (24%) and Any other White background (24%) ethnic groups were less likely to attend live sporting events compared with the average for people in England (30%).

Figure 9: Attended a live sporting event, by ethnicity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.8 Socio-economic classification^{[footnote 9]}

As shown in Figure 10, people from the higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations classification (36%) were more likely to attend live sporting events, whilst people from the never worked and long-term unemployed classification (16%), intermediate occupation classification (26%) and routine and manual occupations classification (27%) were less likely to attend live sporting events. 

Figure 10: Attendance of live sporting events, by socio-economic classification, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.9 Index of Multiple Deprivation^{[footnote 10]}

As shown in Figure 11, people from the most deprived areas (1st decile, 19%) were less likely to attend live sporting events compared to people from the least deprived areas (10th decile, 38%). 

Figure 11: Attendance of live sporting events, by Index of Multiple Deprivation, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

3. Attendance of live sporting events by ITL1 and ITL2 area

3.1 Regional Differences^{[footnote 11]}

As shown in Figure 12, no significant differences were observed between the average for people in England and the average for people living in other ITL1 areas.

3.2 ITL2 Area Differences

By ITL2 area, there was a 11 percentage point difference in the proportion of people who attended live sporting events, from 36% in Inner London - West to 25% in Essex. 

The proportion of people who attended live sporting events was in line with the England average in 32 ITL2 areas (89%), higher than the average for people in England in 3 (8%) ITL2 areas, and lower than the average for people in England in 1 (3%) ITL2 area.

Figure 12: Attendance of live sporting events, by ITL1 and ITL2 area, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

1. The headline live sports and gambling engagement estimates are based on data collection from April 2025 to March 2026 through the Participation Survey (April to September 2025) and the Community and Engagement Survey (October 2025 - March 2026).  ↩

2. The majority of estimates in this report are rounded to the nearest whole number. As data are rounded, some changes may appear bigger or smaller than they are. The unrounded numbers are available in the corresponding data tables. ↩

3. Any sport except men’s football, women’s football, rugby, tennis, cricket, athletics, golf, snooker, swimming, gymnastics, motorsport or motorcycle sport and horse racing.  ↩

4. This question was not included in the paper questionnaire and was asked of respondents online, so the results are only representative of the online population. ↩

5. This data is based on the respondent’s sex. The Community and Engagement Survey respondents were asked the question “What is your sex?”. The response options were ‘Male’, ‘Female’ and ‘Prefer not to Say’. This closely follows the ONS Census 2021 question for sex, where the target concept was certificated sex meaning a person’s sex at birth or as modified by a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), but has been slightly amended to include a ‘Prefer not to Say’ option as we do for all demographic questions in the Community and Engagement Survey. ↩

6. This data is based on the respondent’s gender identity. The Community and Engagement Survey respondents were asked the question ‘Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?. The response options were ‘Yes’, ‘No, type in gender identity’ or ‘Prefer not to say’. This closely follows the ONS Census 2021 question for England and Wales, but has been slightly amended to include a ‘Prefer not to Say’ option as we do for all demographic questions in the Community and Engagement Survey. It should be noted that in the Census 2021 data for England and Wales, patterns were identified that suggest that some respondents may not have interpreted the question as intended, notably those with lower levels of English language proficiency. Analysis of Scotland’s Census 2022, where the gender identity question was different, has added weight to this observation. More information can be found in the ONS sexual orientation and gender identity quality information report and the additional guidance and quality information for users of gender identity estimates from Census 2021 in England and Wales. Similar respondent error may have occurred during the data collection for these statistics so comparisons between subnational and other smaller group breakdowns should be considered with caution. ↩

7. Sexual orientation is an umbrella term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. For an individual respondent, these may not be the same. For example, someone in an opposite-sex relationship may also experience same-sex attraction, and vice versa. This means the statistics should be interpreted purely as showing how people responded to the question, rather than being about whom they are attracted to or their actual relationships. ↩

8. The White British ethnic group includes people from an English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British ethnic group ↩

9. This is a form of socio-economic classification based on the employment status and occupation of the respondent. ↩

10. The Index of Multiple Deprivation is a geographical measure which classifies the relative deprivation of an area. It combines seven indices to produce one overall measure for the area (rather than the individual). It takes into account income, employment, education, skills and training, health and disability, crime, barriers to housing and services, and living environment. For this commentary, the most and least deprived deciles have been compared. There may be some other significant differences between deciles in between which have not been commented on here. The analysis of the index of Multiple Deprivation was conducted using the 2025 Index of Multiple Deprivation. ↩

11. The questions on engagement with live sports were not asked to all respondents. This means that data are not available at LA level. Data are however available by ITL2 area level (summary commentary provided in this report) and by combined authority level in the corresponding data tables. ↩