An analysis of the UK Gambling Commission’s 2020 annual report by the folks behind LeanBackPlayer provides a valuable insight into the state of the country’s lively gambling market. According to the available data, the United Kingdom’s overall gross gambling yield (GGY) fell by £84.1 million last year, but remote casino gambling increased by 4.3%, while online betting rose by an impressive 15.5%.
These figures relate to the period from April 2018 to March 2020 period. The overall drop in GGY is mostly contained to non-remote sectors of the gambling market. This is to be expected, as the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns that were introduced to contain it massively reduced the rate at which people gamble or bet in person.
Non-remote betting saw a decline of £859.5 million, in-person casino gambling dropped by £42.8 million, while non-remote bingo fell by £38.4m. As mentioned, online casino gambling rose by 4.3%, while remote betting jumped by 15.5%. The online National Lottery sector also experienced an uptick, with its GGY increasing by 10.4%.
Football betting constitutes 48.4% of the UK’s betting market.
The British people’s love for football is well-known, with the country being home to many of the world’s top football teams. You’d be hard-pressed to find a betting site without a Premier League offering and UK football fans are known throughout the world for their unflinching devotion to their clubs.
Hence, it comes as no surprise that football betting constitutes a huge part of the UK’s betting market. Drawing data from the UKGC’s report shows that football betting makes up nearly half (48.4%) of the UK’s betting market GGY. Behind football are horse racing (28%), tennis (5%), dog racing (3.1%), virtual sports (3.2%), and gold (0.7%)
Online gambling forecast to grow by $80 million in the next three years.
Globally, the online gambling market has been valued at around $72.02 billion in 2021. In the UK, the gambling industry’s total GGY is valued at £14.3 billion. This market was experiencing steady growth even before the pandemic, which only sped up its expansion.
New forecasts predict that the online gambling market’s value will continue its upwards trend, growing by $80 million from 2021 to 2024. If this proves to be correct, the sector’s total market valuation will exceed $80 billion.
