UKGC Publishes Further Data Showing Impact of Covid-19 on Gambling Behaviour

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published further data showing the impact of Covid-19 on gambling behaviour in Great Britain.

The data reflects the period between March and October, inclusive, and covers both online and in-person gambling with data from Licensed Betting Operators (LBOs) found on Britain’s high streets.

The online market grew, with a month-on-month increase of 29% in gross gambling yield (GGY), and a 7% increase in active accounts. The main driver for this was real event betting – which saw 53% growth in GGY. Although there were increases in both the number of bets (up by 12%) and the number of active players (up by 7%), the main driver for the growth appears to be an increase in operator margins.

The number of online slots sessions lasting longer than an hour increased by 12% (to 2.2m) in October from September, although this rise was at the same rate as the increase in overall sessions. The average session length remains steady at 21 minutes with around 8% of all sessions lasting more than one hour.

Licensed betting operators also experienced month on month growth across some metrics, with increases of 1% in bets/spins placed and 9% in GGY (to £204m) likely to be impacted by the same sporting results.