The Boom and Fall of Lockdown Gambling in the UK
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The global COVID-19 pandemic that struck at the beginning of 2020 changed life as we knew it worldwide. People were forced to stay at home and entertainment venues like restaurants, movie theatres, bowling alleys, and casinos shuttered. Platforms like Britbox and ITV Live replaced theatre and casino sites replaced gambling venues. Online gambling saw a boom in the UK.
There was a lockdown in the UK. Many people were banned from gambling. Online casinos were established to replace them. They generated a lot of income. The lockdown ended and people returned to their brick-and-mortar casinos. The industry saw a loss of players and income once the lockdown was over. It is now profitable again. In the last six months, £3.1 billion of the gross gambling yield (GGY) in UK came from remote betting or online casinos, which accounted for 52.3% of GGY.
After casinos reopened, many people who had moved their gaming activities online returned to the physical establishments. The government's review of the current gambling laws accelerated the fall of online gambling in the UK. Some online casinos, such as WinTrillions, have stopped operating in UK due to this. By March 2021, the number of registered gambling operators with the Gambling Commission fell by 5.4%. Many of these license holders operated not just online casino but also sports betting and lottery betting services.
The gambling bubble that occurred due to the 2020 lockdowns has almost certainly burst. Even after the downward turn in 2021, online gambling is gaining traction year on year. This is because of the enormous revenue generated by these online casinos.
