Summary:
- The UK Gaming Regulator will see the addition of 7 new Commissioners
- The iGaming market has recorded £1.18 billion in GGY for July-September 2023
- The overall number of bets/spins and the number of active players for the reporting period also increased
The UK’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) has appointed seven new Commissioners for the UKGC. They are: Helen Dodds, Claudia Mortimore, Charles Counsell, Sheree Howard, Helen Philips, David Rossington, and Lloydette Bai-Marrow.
The newly-appointed Commissioners have not declared any major political activity in the last five years, in accordance with the Governance Code. They will receive an annual remuneration of £14,160.
Stable iGaming GGY for July-September 2023
UK online gambling operators had a steady summer this year in terms of revenue, generating a gross gambling yield (GGY) of £1.18 billion from July to September 2023. However, this summer saw major increases in the total number of bets and/or spins and the number of average monthly active accounts.
These data and other key statistics on the UK gambling sector were published by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) in its latest quarterly report that looks into the prevalence and engagement of gambling throughout Britain.
The Commission began releasing these datasets in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic while lockdown measures were in place. The data is provided by the UK’s leading operators which control an estimated 80% of the country’s online gambling market.
From July-September 2023, the industry recorded £1.18 billion in total GGY, up 0.6% from the same period last year. The latest figure is down 9% from the previous quarter during which GGY stood at 1.3 billion.
The total number of bets and/or spins for July-September 2023 increased by 10% year-on-year, with the number of active users per month also jumping by 7%.
Breaking down the figures, GGY for online real event sports betting fell 5% year-on-year to £428 million. The number of bets and average monthly accounts were also down by 1% and 0.2% respectively compared to the summer of 2022. According to the UKGC, the decreases may have been brought about by “a series of unfavourable sports results” for bookmakers in September.
Online slots results for the July-September 2023 period were a lot better, with GGY reaching £589 million, an 8% year-on-year increase. Both the number of spins and average monthly active accounts were up 11% from the same period last year.
Data on safer gambling indicators show operators carried out three million customer interactions from July to September 2023, an increase of 1% from the same period last year. Overall, this summer saw a 17% jump in the number of direct interactions undertaken by online gambling providers.
