UK remote gambling yield falls for the first time
Betting market loses almost £200m in GGY for 12 months to March 2019 despite increase in turnover
The UK remote gambling market has declined for the first time, with gross gaming yield (GGY) down 0.6% in the year to March 2019.
Remote GGY was £5.3bn, losing approximately £34.2m year-on-year, with the downturn driven by betting, where GGY fell 10% to £2bn, losing close to £200m in GGY.
Regulus Partners noted there were several known causes for the overall decline, including customer friendly results in racing (stakes up 8.5% but revenues down) and football, as well as Sky Bet’s Cheltenham free bet offer.
“However, this is still a big drop in betting,” the analyst firm said. “Especially given the ‘knowns’ of the public market in a highly consolidated sector, suggesting a significant negative for bet365’s 2018 GB performance – likely reflecting the wider industry adoption of tougher KYC and SR measures.”
Tennis appeared to be particularly affected, with turnover down 8%.
Online casino remained the largest part of the sector, generating £3.1bn in GGY, up 6% year-on-year, with the majority of revenue coming from slots games.
Just under 9,900 people were employed in the UK remote industry, up around 300 from 2018.
Total GGY for the entire land-based/remote industry was £14.4bn in the period, down £46.4m (-0.3%) on the previous year.