The state of Britain’s gaming industry was the topic of a speech last week. Sarah Gardner, the Gambling Commission’s Deputy Chief Executive spoke about the industry at the KPMG Gibraltar eSummit. Gardner is responsible for the work done by the Commission regarding policy, research, the national lottery, and strategy. During the speech, she addressed how Britain has been recovering from the pandemic shut downs and how that had affected the gambling industry.
It is evident from statistics that Britain has a very stable industry. While it suffered from the pandemic, the numbers now are pretty close to what they were in 2020. Gamblers remained active even if they did not have access to land casinos. Players continue to place bets online but have resumed play at local casino venues as well. While the country did suffer during the pandemic, online gambling played a key role in keeping the industry alive. It remains an important part of the gaming sector.
Addressing Responsible Gambling
Gardner discussed the situation with white-label arrangements and stated that over the summer, the Gambling Commission will be working on proposals that regard age verification in land casinos and removing any features of gaming that increase any intensity of playing on games that are not slots and are featured online. The responsibility of licensed operators will be increased and they will have to include guidance on customer interactions as well as a vulnerability statement.
There have been many cases of gamblers spending huge sums of money in a short amount of time, and no proper checks were conducted. This is a serious issue and reinforced responsibilities are needed to keep gamblers safe and prevent gambling problems throughout Britain. Gardner did report that there have been many signs of encouragement about operator compliance. In the past year, online operators introduced a variety of safe gambling measures and have taken steps to implement verification procedures. Also, UK sites started slowly reducing incentive amounts to attract so-called bonus hunters. Online casino bonuses like these here is also a subject of the discussion, whether they will be further reduced or even removed remains unclear.
The UKGC wants to cut down on regulatory failures and the issuance of fines. At the end of 2022 and the start of 2023, there were 24 cases that were enforced and operators paid more than £60 million in fines. The fines are issued for serious regulatory failures that led to financial suffering for a number of customers at online casinos. The goal is to cut down on these fines and make sure that sites are taking appropriate actions to be compliant with new regulations as they emerge.
Industry Remains Strong
There has been continued growth in the gambling sector and new account registrations are 9.1% higher than before the pandemic. Even though overall gaming in the UK has seen growth, there has been a fall in the number of licensed operators. At the end of 2022, 2,319 operators held a valid licence. This number is down from 2018 when there were 2,819 operators. Even with the fewer operators, online gaming has remained steady and data has shown that there are 32 million active gaming accounts in the country.
“The demand for online gambling remains high and online casinos as well as sportsbooks have a bright future in the UK. In 2022, the gross gambling yield for the online gaming sector was £3.9 billion. Of this, £3 billion came from slot games alone. A significant market share is also held by sportsbooks, which took a total of £2.4 billion GGY in the past year – said spokesperson of BritishGambler.
As we continue through 2023, the industry remains strong, and even with many regulatory changes, operators have cooperated and made the appropriate moves to increase security and help to prevent gambling addiction. Gardner does not doubt that the industry will continue to prosper, even as White Paper regulations continue to change in the coming months and years.
With increased compliance from operators and an increase in online casino registrations, it is evident that the online sector in the UK is booming. Online casinos were a staple during the pandemic, offering UK players a safe and secure way to place real money bets when land casinos were shuttered. Even now that these venues are up and running, online gambling seems to be the preferred choice for many. This means that the new regulations will have to focus largely on remote sites that offer gambling activities. It is important to maintain strict standards and ensure that all operators are in complete compliance. This will pave the road for continued industry growth while making the UK one of the safest places to play online in the world.