UKGC data: UK betting shop numbers down 12% in 2019 as FOBT stake cuts bite
New data reveals 46% year-on-year drop in B2 category gaming machine revenue
The number of UK betting shops dropped by 12.1% between March 2019 and October 2019, according to latest data released by the UKGC, with 7,315 shops still open in the UK.
Overall UK gross gambling yield dropped by 0.5% year-on-year to £14.3bn between October 2018 and September 2019, however combined remote sector yield rose by 4% to £5.5bn in the same period.
Online sports betting sector GGY hit £2.1bn in September 2019, up 4.3% from the prior reporting period, while online bingo GGY jumped 12.5% year-on-year to £198m.
Online casino gross gambling yield rose by 3.9% year-on-year to £3.2bn.
The total number of UK gambling industry staff decreased by 4.4% year-on-year to 98,174 employees in March 2019. Total gambling premises numbers also decreased to 9,745, down 9.6%.
Significant declines were reported in the gaming machines sector, with overall GGY dropping by 11.8% year-on-year to £2.5bn.
Gross gambling yield from category B2 machines, known as fixed odds betting terminals, dropped by 46.4% to £624m following the implementation of the £2 stake limit.
However, category B3 machine GGY increased by 18.5% during the same period to £1.3bn.
Land-based sector GGY fell by just under 1% during the period to £1.1bn.