UK: Gambling Commission Reports Gross Gambling Yield Up 1%

Referring to these results, the British Gaming Authority recommends caution when making year-on-year comparisons between some months during the period of this data collection, due to the different operating circumstances between 2020 and 2022.

They also explain that the data comes from online gambling and in-person gambling with data from Licensed Betting Operators (LBOs) found on Britain's high streets. A comparison should also not be made with the industry statistical dataset as market impact data may include bonuses and free bets.

In this regard, it emphasizes that this new publication update contains operator data up to June 2022. This refers to the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal year 2022-2023 (91 days) and the fourth quarter (Q4) of fiscal year 2021-2022 (90 days).


The latest operator data shows:

• Total Gross Online Gaming Yield (GGY) in the first quarter (April to June) was £1.2 billion (approximately €1.423 million), an increase of almost 1% from the fourth quarter (from January to March). Total number of total bets/spins up 5% from Q4 to Q1, average monthly active accounts up 5%
• Slots increased by 4% to almost £565 million (approximately €670 million) between the fourth and first quarters. The number of drafts increased 5% to 18.7 billion, while the monthly average number of active accounts increased 4% to 3.6 million per month
• The number of online slot sessions lasting more than an hour increased by 5% (to 8.4 million) between the fourth and first quarters. The average session length was 17 minutes (a decrease of one minute), with approximately 7% of all sessions lasting more than one hour.
• Gross returns from licensed betting operators increased by 6% to £584 million (approximately €692 million) between the fourth and first quarters, while the total number of bets and spins increased by 3% to 3.3 billion (3,913 million). million euros approximately).

As the Gambling Commission explains, many people will continue to feel vulnerable as a result of the length of the pandemic period, the increased uncertainty about their personal or financial circumstances, or the readjustment of budgets and time as life returns to normal with a broader set of financial drivers.

On the other hand, the Gambling Commission insists that it expects operators to:

• continue to follow the strengthened guidance issued during the first lockdown, taking close interest in data that shows consumers expanding their portfolio of games and spending more time or money than before
• interact directly where triggers are reached, in addition to their more generic email engagement
• avoid any temptation to exploit the current situation for marketing purposes, in particular as consumers adjust back to a new normal and be very cautious when seeking to cross-sell products
• take particular care when on-boarding new customers and making decisions over affordability checks which reflect the environment we are in.

Also, the Commission continues to track market-related risk through:

• assessment of the impact of the reinforced guidance issued for operators
• monitoring of key data along with collecting and publishing this additional data where the evidence identifies additional risks faced by consumers, taking additional steps to protect consumers.

As a consequence, it will continue to take steps to permanently strengthen regulatory requirements including changes to Remote Technical Standards (RTS) and License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) to protect consumers.

As part of these measures, it will continue to monitor operators closely and assess their compliance.

FULL REPORT