United Kingdom Online Gambling Industry Continues to Increase

UK online gambling industry proceeds to gain in importance. The results for 2019 are promising and more updates are expected from the local betting sector. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has just published its newest gambling participation survey 2019, showing that 47% of respondents had participated in some form of betting in the past four weeks, which is more than one point compared to the year before. The same number decreased to 32% if we eliminate players who were taking part in the National Lottery.

Regarding online betting participation in the country, it increased by 21% in 2019 or three points more than the year before. Most online gamblers (50% ) prefer using mobile phones while gambling on favorite chances rather than laptops (38%) or desktop computers (26%). The report further shows that gamblers choose betting from home (95%). The online UK gambling sector also saw the surge of gamblers who bet at work or during daily travel to work.

It is also worth mentioning that sports betting participation jumped nine points to 81% and retail betting dropped 13% to 27%. Regarding online bettors, in-play participation dropped two points to 21% in 2019 with the most dramatic fall in the number of players aged 25-34 (30%). The only group which showed more interest in in-play betting was those aged 35-44 group (29%).

After the government imposed restrictions on maximum stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT) from £100 to only £2, the number of interested gamblers declined almost a half to 0.8% in 2019.

The UK government is looking to promote self-exclusion programs for gamblers. All these attempts are more than successful as the number of players who chose the option increased 12 points to 47% as of 2015. The last year’s results show that 5% of bettors opted for self-exclusion, and about 9% of them have utilized financial limits.

If we observe the results from social media operators, we can see that the percentage of online bettors who follow social media accounts of the gambling operators dropped three points to 23%. The weekly statistics show a 3% decrease in viewing betting ads and sponsorships.

Despite regular attempts to convince gamblers in the fairness of gambling operations, the number of bettors who believe in the fairness of gambling slipped one point to 29% and those who consider gambling is connected with crime surged five points to 43%. It is also interesting to mention that most gamblers believe that many gambling opportunities cause potential problems for bettors.

Source: Stradbrooke, Steven „UK online gambling on the rise, in-play betting continues to fall“. Calvin Ayre. February 26, 2020.