UK Gambling Commission publishes data revealing COVID-19 impact on gambling behaviour

The Gambling Commission has published data showing how the COVID-19 pandemic and the easing of lockdown measures has impacted online and Licensed Betting Operator’s (LBO) gambling behaviour

The online gambling data, collected from the largest online operators,by the UK gambling commission covers the months of March through to August. At the beginning of the year GGY increased strongly but between July and August it decreased by 12 per cent, driven mainly by a decrease in real event betting. The lack of tier-one sporting events in August appears to have impacted GGY for real event betting which decreased by 21 per cent from July. 

The number of bets were down by 12 per cent and the number of active players were down by 10 per cent, since July. This shows the reliance of real event betting on top-tier football, with the Premier League which ended in July having impacted figures in August. 

Online slots have seen the smallest change. In August, the reported figures have not changed significantly.  

The number of online slots sessions lasting longer than an hour decreased by seven per cent in the month to August and the average session length remains steady at 21 minutes with around eight per cent of all sessions lasting in excess of one hour. 

According to the UK gambling commission, spend per session has decreased by 13 per cent to £10.39 since the initial re-opening of LBOs in June, but it still remains higher than the pre-lockdown value of £8.72. The number of spins per session decreased by one per cent (to 125) between July and August.