The Current State of the UK’s Gambling Industry
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The UK has a long and distinguished history of gambling. From the very first horse races held over 300 years ago to the exclusive casinos and members clubs that sprung up in the 18 and 19 centuries, it’s an activity that is woven into the culture of the country.
While it had already been established for generations, it was the Gambling Act of 2005, introduced by the then Labour Government of Tony Blair, that transformed the landscape completely.
This brought in sweeping reforms and liberalisations of the industry, paving the way for many changes. Not only did it herald what was hoped to be a new era of land-based casinos to be built, it also legislated for the emerging online casino market.
At the same time, a new body called the Gambling Commission was created. Still in force today, it is the Commission’s job to oversee all areas of gambling, whether casinos, sports betting or the hugely successful National Lottery.
The Commission is also the body that releases the official figures for the industry concerning its annual yield. The most recent report shows just what good health the UK gambling industry is in, better than many other sectors often written about and reported in the business sections of the media.
The facts and the figures
Annually, the Gross Gambling Yield in the UK is a little over £14 billion, and between April 2020 and March 2021 there were over 2,400 separate entities licensed by the Commission to operate legally in the UK.
While offline betting is declining slightly, the same can’t be said of the online version of the activity. The proportion of the total yield this provides has been climbing steadily in recent years.
The latest figures released in November 2021 show that remote betting, including the sports, casino and bingo sectors, produced a yield of £6.9 billion. Not only is this very nearly 50% of the total yield, it’s also an increase of over 18% on the previous year’s figures.
Breaking it down even further, £4 billion of this revenue was generated by online casinos, with £2.9 billion of the total coming from slots games.
The unstoppable rise of online casinos
One of the most remarkable successes of the sector has been online casinos. Ever since the first sites started to appear in the 1990s the UK has been a leader in the field.
Much of their popularity has been due to the sheer convenience for players to be able to enjoy their favourite games without leaving home. Increasingly, the use of mobile devices to play has led to even greater flexibility and availability of games.
The advance in technology has also meant that more sophisticated games are available. These range from the slots that provide such a large proportion of revenue through to the live casino experience. This uses streaming technology to allow players to take part in live games. Typically, these include roulette, blackjack and baccarat and are run by live dealers in real time.
The online casino sector is also a very competitive one. This means that the most successful operators have had to adopt strong marketing strategies to thrive. A great deal of money, the casinos are reluctant to reveal how much, is spent on advertising and tactical sponsorships. They also offer very generous incentives to new players and when it comes to no deposit casino UK operators lead the way. With these offers, players are given a certain amount of stake money or spins on slots to introduce them to the casino. They are obviously very effective as so many casinos offer them.
The business booms
There are many other ways in which the success of the gambling industry is being demonstrated almost every day. One story that underlines this fact comes from the level of pay for the Chief Operating Officers of the most successful businesses. For example, one executive, Denise Coates CBE was allegedly paid £469 million in 2020, making her by far the highest paid person ever in UK corporate history.
In an industry in which bigger means better, there have also been some major mergers and attempted takeovers in recent times. With the increasing liberalisation of gambling laws in the US, there is also increasing interest being shown by the country’s big casino chains.
It is thought several may soon try to take over UK operators, or at least invest heavily in them, in order to be ready to make their own online offerings.
A new-look lottery on the way
In terms of the people who gamble in the UK, the biggest number bet on the twice-weekly National Lottery. This raises around £1.7 billion a year for good causes from schools to charities to sports clubs. Since its launch in 1994 it has been run by Camelot, but their licence runs out in 2024.
It’s recently been announced that a Czech lottery operator called Allwyn is the preferred choice to take over after this. Full details are yet to be confirmed, but it’s believed that they intend to halve to cost of entry to its original level of just £1 a ticket. In theory, this will increase the number of weekly players and make the lottery even more successful.
We’ll have to wait and see if this does really happen. But we can be sure of one thing – gambling in the UK in general is booming – and it’s set to boom even more.
