Remote betting powers GB gambling revenue increase as betting shops take a hit
Total gross gaming yield (GGY) for the British gambling industry increased 4% to £14.41bn ($18.27bn) for the year to the end of March 2018, with non-remote betting and non-remote arcades being the only sectors to report decreases.
Figures released by the Gambling Commission show remote casino, betting and bingo GGY went up 13% to £5.35bn, making up 37% of the total GGY.
Casino accounted for 55% of the remote gambling GGY total with £2.92bn, while betting accounted for 39% with £2.07bn. Total GGY for the remote sector has increased 26% over two years.
The statistics once again confirm the importance of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to gambling operators and the uphill battle they will face when maximum stakes on the machines will be cut to £2 in April 2019.
Between April 2017 and March 2018, non-remote betting generated gross gambling yield (GGY) of £3.25bn, down 4%, and FOBTs accounted for £1.73bn (53%) of that total.
The FOBTs’ share of the non-remote betting GGY total is actually down two percentage points from the 55% share the previous year, where the machines generated £1.83bn GGY.
The number of betting shops in Great Britain as of 31 March 2018 was 8,557, down from 8,811 a year earlier. As of 30 September 2018, there were 8,406 shops operating.
The National Lottery has seen a GGY decrease of 12% to £2.98bn from March 2016 to March 2018, although it still accounts for 21% of the overall GGY for the market.
Non-remote arcade GGY was £417.98m, down 0.9%.
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