The FINANCIAL — In 2020, the European country with the highest share of its gambling activity taking place online was Sweden at 66.2 percent. Denmark and the United Kingdom followed in the ranking with online gambling market shares of 59.4 percent and 59.3 percent, respectively.
“The gambling industry has changed significantly since 2005 and our advice sets out changes that will ensure Britain is the safest and fairest place to gamble in the world”, Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive said.
In March 2022, the GGY of the bingo sector amounted to 388.6 million, while the GGY of the casino sector amounted to nearly 692 million.
“The review is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver positive change for gambling in Great Britain and for all people impacted by it. Everyone at the Commission welcomes today’s publication of the White Paper and is determined to work with Government and partners to make these changes a reality. Given the correct powers and resources, the Gambling Commission can continue to make gambling safer, fairer and crime free. This White Paper is a coherent package of proposals which we believe can significantly support and protect consumers, and improve overall standards in the industry.
“As the detailed implementation of the review now begins, we will also be reiterating to all operators that the Commission will strongly maintain its focus on consumer protection and compliance.”
Of potential interest to Licensing Authorities, amongst other issues, is the proposal to enable unused 2005 Act casino licences to be reallocated to other local authorities, the possibility of a Cumulative Impact Assessment for gambling premises, a gambling premises fees review (England and Wales only), a review of the different categories of machines ratios in AGCs and bingo premises, and greater numbers of machines in casinos.
Birmingham City Council/Aston University
Birmingham City Council (BCC), in conjunction with Aston University, have been undertaking a project to investigate the relationship between gambling harm and their social housing tenants. BCC has now produced the webpages you can read using the link above on their website. The Council have already received interest from Registered Social Landlords in the City to explore the scheme further.
Due partly to the coronavirus pandemic, the share of the public who gambled online in Great Britain increased from 2020 to 2021.
William Hill Penalty
In March, the Gambling Commission announced that three William Hill Group businesses would pay a record £19.2m penalty for breaches of the LCCP including non-remote issues.
WHG (International) Limited, which runs williamhill.com, will pay £12.5 million, Mr Green Limited, which runs mrgreen.com, will pay £3.7 million and William Hill Organization Limited, which operates 1,344 gambling premises across Britain, will pay £3 million.
Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive, said: “When we launched this investigation the failings, we uncovered were so widespread and alarming serious consideration was given to licence suspension.
“However, because the operator immediately recognised their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history.”
Further information can be found by clicking the link in the header.
Bingo in pubs and clubs
The Commission has seen an increasing number of queries about bingo events being held in pubs and clubs, often regarding operators who organise events across GB. As a reminder of the regulatory requirements:
Operators generally rely on the alcohol licence issued to other businesses to hold their bingo events at those venues.
However, should an operator cross the £2,000 per week threshold as outlined in section 281 of the Act, the operator would be required to obtain an operating licence from the Commission
A Gambling Commission operating licence creates the entitlement for it to generate stakes or prizes greater than £2,000 per week while continuing to trade from alcohol-licensed premises (ie its operating licence entitles it to conduct high turnover bingo as per section 281 of the Act)
However they can continue to offer bingo within the rules for exempt gaming in alcohol licensed premises. (For example, they cannot charge a participation fee for playing bingo)
During the period April 2021 to March 2022, the average number of gaming machines across all sectors in Great Britain amounted to 151,260. This shows a drop from the previous period’s total of 169,127.
The provisions of section 279 of the Act are therefore relevant. In short, the limitations of exempt gaming mean that:
An operator cannot charge a participation fee to customers. They are still allowed to collect money that goes on to form the participant’s gaming stake, but the operator cannot charge a fee as profit, nor otherwise deduct any sums from the stake or prize amounts.
Section 344 of the Act states that a charge for admission to premises where gambling takes place is to be treated as participation fee. Any operator may set up their facilities so that the fee they charge for entry is for admission to the entertainment only rather than an admission fee for bingo gaming. As such, customers must have the opportunity to enter and play bingo without being compelled to pay the entertainment fee.
For example: the entertainment fee + bingo stakes + the booking fee for third party. The website on which tickets are bought should be transparent about how the price is subdivided.
Consistent with the point above that no sum can be deducted from stakes, the sum of all stakes accrued must therefore be returned to players as prizes.
There are maximum stakes of £5 per person per game. There is no maximum prize for bingo under exempt gaming rules.
Report into gambling harms campaign
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has produced a report on their successful campaign ‘Odds Are: They Win’ which reached over 1.4million people in Greater Manchester. The version you can view on their website is the summary report. If you would like to see the full document and meet with GMCA’s gambling harms team to discuss it please email them on harm.reduction@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk.
To find out more about the campaign, visit the GMCA website and the campaign twitter page for further information on GMCA’s gambling harms work.
GambleAware – National Gambling Support Network
GambleAware has announced a new national support network. Of particular interest to both LAs and Public Health teams is that it aims for a specific focus on ‘early intervention and adopts a regional-first approach.’ A further objective is ‘improved referral routes, allowing local providers to triage individuals into the treatment service that is right and appropriate for them.’
According to the survey, majority of the respondents from Great Britain aged 16 years and over participated in gambling once a month/less than once a week in 2021. Meanwhile, 18.1 percent of respondents stated that they participated in gambling less than once a month in the past four weeks in that year.
There are various forms of legal gambling in the United Kingdom. These can include casinos, betting, lotteries, bingo, scratchcards, online (or remote) gambling, and more. The industry is regulated by the Gambling Commission which represents the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). As of March 2022, the gross gambling yield (GGY) in Great Britain amounted to a little over 14 billion British pounds, up from the previous year’s GGY of 12.7 billion pounds. This increase can be understood in the context of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which drastically impacted the gambling industry due to the closure of brick-and-mortar establishments and the pausing of major sports leagues in 2020 and 2021. In March 2022, the most common type of brick-and-mortar gambling establishments in Great Britain were betting establishments.
How profitable is gambling in Great Britain?
The gross gambling yield of the bingo and casino sectors of the gambling industry in Great Britain reflected a slight downward trajectory in recent years. In March 2022, the GGY of the bingo sector amounted to 388.6 million, while the GGY of the casino sector amounted to nearly 692 million. That same year, the total number of bingo premises in Great Britain was 609, and the total number of casino premises in Great Britain was 144.
The National Lottery proved to be more profitable than both of these sectors in 2022. Annual sales of the National Lottery in Great Britain generated nearly 8.1 billion British pounds during the period of April 2021 to March 2022. However, this figure shows a slight decrease from the previous period wherein the National Lottery in Great Britain generated total sales amounting to around 8.3 billion British pounds.
What is the future of gambling in the UK?
Due partly to the coronavirus pandemic, the share of the public who gambled online in Great Britain increased from 2020 to 2021. As of March 2022, the number of new online gambling registrations in Great Britain totaled approximately 32.65 million. Meanwhile, the GGY of the remote betting, bingo, and casino gambling industry in Great Britain peaked between April 2020 and March 2021. The following year, in March 2022, the GGY of the remote betting, bingo, and casino gambling industry totaled 6.4 billion British pounds. Despite the increased popularity of online gambling during the pandemic, the share of the British public that agreed that gambling was conducted fairly and can be trusted reached its lowest point in 2020. In 2021, that figure was 30.1 percent.
The total revenue of the European gambling market was 81.1 billion euros in 2020. When looking at the 2021 forecast, this figure was expected to grow to 87.2 billion euros. Meanwhile the 2025 forecast was expected to climb again to a value of nearly 122 billion euros.
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