SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Gambling Commission has revealed that the total gross gambling yield (GGY) for the Great Britain gambling industry was £12.6 billion between October 2014 and September 2015, an increase of £1.4 billion on the figure recorded for the previous 11-month period (April 2014 – March 2015).
This was a key part of the figures released by the Commission to provide a more up-to-date picture of the gambling industry in Great Britain, which included almost a year’s worth of data from all licensed operators offering online gambling.
Statistics for the same period also showed that 29% (£3.6 billion) of the gambling market share was online betting, bingo and casino. This had remained steady, showing little change from the first five months’ worth of online data published in November 2015.
The level of contributions to good causes from lotteries went up in two instances. From the National Lottery, the figure was up 2.1% to £1.7 billion, whilst contributions to good causes from large society lotteries was valued at £195 million, an increase of 3.9% between the two reports.
However, there were a number of negative trends highlighted by the figures, including a 1.9% decrease in the number of betting shops between March 2015 and March 2016. The number of B2 machines in the betting shops, of which there are now 8,809, has decreased by 0.5%.
James Green, Programme Director at the Gambling Commission, said: “We are publishing clear authoritative data on the gambling industry in Great Britain.
“For the first time, the figures include almost a full year’s worth of data relating to online gambling operators; the market share of the online betting, bingo and casino sector is 29% and we’ll be interested to see how this varies over time.
“Market trends and consumer participation research are key to shaping the Commission’s regulatory policy to keep gambling in Britain safe for consumers, fair, and crime-free.”
The Gambling Commission’s regular industry data reports sit alongside its research on consumer participation in gambling in Britain. The next major consumer survey will be published in July.
