An analysis of the gambling industry of Great Britain by the UK Gambling Commission is highlighting the changing dynamics of the sector. The report presents critical statistics like the Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) of the sector, the number of people it employs and its socially responsible activities. Below are some of the most intriguing insights from the report, especially those related to remote gambling
The highlights of the report
The Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) of the industry increased by 4.5% between April 2017 and March 2018 to 14.4 billion pounds. The remote sector, which has been regulated in Great Britain a point of consumption basis since November 2014. The sector’s total GGY for the year was 5.4 billion pounds, up by 13.7% from the previous year. The remote casino category accounted for 2 billion pounds of GGY, marking a 19.3% increase during the year.
The trends show the market favoring remote gambling industry and increasing interest in remote casinos. Casino games account for 3 billion pounds in GGY while slot games account for 2 billion pounds. The users favor the convenience of playing on their computer or mobile devices a lot more now than going to an actual casino.
The same trend is visible in the remote betting sector as well where a 2.3 billion-pound GGY was contributed to the total, predominantly via horse betting and football alone. William Hill and Ladbrokes are the two biggest names in the industry at the moment, holding about 49% of the total market. Off-course activities have declined by 101 million pounds while on-course have declined by 0.6 million pounds. Pool betting also increased by 1.6 million pounds. The total betting premises have also decreased for the fifth straight year as only 8,406 venues now allow betting.
What’s happening with the National Lottery and Bingo?
The National Lottery is also increasing its share in the GGY to 3 billion pounds, through the increase was just 1%. The third largest sector in the UK increased its contributions to good causes by 1.5% to 1.5 billion pounds. Bingo didn’t suffer much through the year as its GGY remained steady at 688.3 million pounds, about 47.4% of which came from machines. Blackjack and American Roulette have all suffered a decrease. Though the overall number of machines decreased by 0.5%, betting shops continue to bring the highest machines GGY amounting to 1.78 billion pounds.
The key takeaways from the report
Remote casino, betting, and bingo together account for 37% of the total GGY, followed closely by betting at 23%. In the non-remote sector, betting takes 78% share of activities. Across Great Britain, about 53,000+ people are employed in betting operations, making them a whopping 49% of the total workforce. Casinos became the second largest employers with a 14% share in the workforce.
The remote gambling sector also experienced the highest number of self-exclusions but also faced the highest number of breaches and the highest number of gamblers unable to identify their age.
While the report touches on many critical matters related to the gambling industry in Great Britain, it is essential to note that remote gambling and betting are quickly becoming the behemoths of the industry. People are favoring online activities instead of offline activities. The reasons behind this could be the sheer convenience of gambling remotely and having access to websites and apps that facilitate such activities, like a live mobile casino.
The UK gambling industry is by far the biggest in the world, holding a 41% share in remote gambling activities as several large gambling operators are headquartered here. Malta, the second-place holder, accounts for just 21% remote activity. Remote casino and remote betting are so prevalent in the UK that they together account for 93.4% of the total remote GGY of the country. In the remote casino sector, slots took away the lion’s share of GGY, amounting to a whopping 69.1%.
As is evident, gambling is becoming more prevalent than ever in the UK. Barring some parts of London and the North, most areas in Great Britain have suffered from low casino attendance, and people are swiftly moving towards remote options. Whether it is playing slots, bingo or roulette or betting on their favorite sports, the Brits are moving along with time.
The question now is, do we have enough regulations to handle the new digitized gambling market, especially via remote operators?