GAMSTOP announces historic milestone as registrations reach 500,000

Half a million vulnerable consumers have registered with GAMSTOP since 2018

75% of GAMSTOP’s users say they feel more in control of their gambling choices

GAMSTOP, the national self-exclusion scheme for online gambling, has reached a historic milestone, announcing that more than 500,000 consumers have registered with the service since its inception in 2018.

The free service allows vulnerable consumers to exclude themselves from all gambling sites licensed by the Gambling Commission for up to five years, with shorter options of six months or a year. More than 440,000 are currently excluded, with around one in two opting for the longest timeframe possible.

April 2024 was a record-breaking month with 8,686 new registrants – the highest volume of monthly registrations since GAMSTOP’s launch in April 2018.

The announcement that half a million consumers have registered to self-exclude comes ahead of the third, annual Self-Exclusion Day on September 12^th when Clubs from all divisions in the football pyramid will come together to raise awareness about GAMSTOP to their supporters. Self-exclusion messaging will be displayed at EFL football grounds on the weekend of September 7-8 and digital assets will be posted on partner Clubs’ social channels.

The Gambling Commission’s most recent research provides new insights into gambling-related harm, which will help to inform GAMSTOP’s outreach strategy. 2.5% of all survey respondents reported suffering from problem gambling, with men and those under 35 experiencing higher rates of harm.

Data from the first half of 2024 showed that the age of GAMSTOP registrants is falling, with one in two registered in that period aged 16-35, and a 12% year-on-year increase in the number of 16–24-year-olds choosing to exclude themselves from all online gambling sites

The second independent evaluation of GAMSTOP will be published later in September. Ipsos surveyed more than 4,650 GAMSTOP users and 78% said that GAMSTOP had delivered the results they were hoping for, with 75% feeling more in control of their gambling choices.

The full research will be shared with gambling operators at a webinar on September 19^th. Ipsos investigated GAMSTOP’s effectiveness in reducing gambling harm and how it supports its users alongside other forms of gambling prevention and support.

GAMSTOP CEO, Fiona Palmer said: “We have come a very long way since our launch in April 2018 and GAMSTOP is now widely recognised as an important tool to help vulnerable consumers take a break from their gambling. We are proud to have been able to help hundreds of thousands of people to take back control of their lives though self-exclusion and we hope to help many more in the years to come.

It is right that we regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the service through independent research and we will shortly be announcing the results of a comprehensive listening exercise conducted by Ipsos, who have surveyed thousands of GAMSTOP’s users”.