UK online gambling GGY rose 29% month-on-month in October
Much of the increase put down to a surge in real-event betting as number of bets climbed 12% compared with September
The UK online market recorded a 29% month-on-month jump in gross gambling yield (GGY) and a 7% increase in active accounts, according to findings published by the Gambling Commission (UKGC). The data, which showed how renewed tightening of Covid-19 lockdown measures has impacted gambling behaviour, revealed that much of the growth was fuelled by real-event betting GGY climbing 53% compared with September. The UKGC said that while both the number of bets and number of active players were up by 12% and 7% respectively, the main driver of growth appeared to be an increase in operator margins. It also pointed out that real-event GGY levels can be “volatile” and that October’s increase was to be expected as there were five Saturdays that month compared with four the previous month. Meanwhile, the data found that the number of slot sessions lasting more than an hour rose 12% to 2.2 million in October compared with September. Average session length remained steady at 21 minutes, while roughly 8% of all sessions lasted more than an hour. Finally, betting shops saw a 1% increase in bets/spins placed and GGR up 9% to £204m, with real-event sports betting likely to be the cause. The regulator said gambling behaviours continue to evolve as the country responds to varying levels of restrictions and “we will remain vigilant in light of the new national lockdowns announced in recent weeks”. The UKGC recently wrote to operators to remind them of the guidance issued in May to online firms stressing the need for improved affordability checks, the blocking of reverse withdrawals and restrictions on bonuses. Elsewhere, a Betting and Gaming Council (BGC)-commissioned report has said that UK punters staked £1.4bn on unlicensed gambling websites over a 12-month period between 2018 and 2019. The report, carried out by international auditing firm PWC, revealed that 200,000 customers gambled on black market websites during the period. Overall, unlicensed operators accounted for 2.5% of all visits to sports betting websites, amounting to 27 million site visits in 2018-19, with one in ten of all gambling search results including unlicensed gambling sites.