GC’s latest data shows online bets hit a record high of 26 billion
Slots spins increased 9% to almost 24 billion during fiscal Q3, while overall gross gambling yield for sports and igaming jumped 21% year on year
UK operators generated online gross gambling yield (GGY) of £1.5bn between October and December 2024, according to the most recent statistics released by the Gambling Commission (GC).
As published in the regulator’s market impact data for the third quarter of its 2024-25 financial year, online gambling GGY represented a 21% increase when compared to the same corresponding period the previous year.
Figures showed the overall number of bets placed and spins executed reached a new high of 25.9 billion, up 8% year on year (YoY).
Despite a fall in the overall number of wagers placed, GGY from real event betting rose 38% YoY to £647m, representing the highest figure recorded by the GC since Q2 2021.
There were 851.8 million real event bets placed, a fall of 7% YoY. Virtual betting generated a further 24.8 million bets, down from 28.6 million the year prior.
The number of slots spins rose 9% YoY to 23.9 billion. Poker bets also decreased YoY, dropping to 157.2 million from 196.2 million for the corresponding period the prior year.
The total number of active players for the quarter was 38.4 million, up 1%. These players were spread between slots, real event betting, virtual betting, poker and other casino games.
The GC noted that an active account may have been counted more than once if a player placed bets across more than one vertical.
Slots GGY jumped 15% YoY to £709m, another new peak noted by the GC, while the average monthly active accounts in Q3 grew 10% to 4.4 million per month.
The data supported the increasing popularity of online slots, with the number of sessions lasting longer than an hour increasing by 6% YoY to 10.4 million and the average slot session length increasing by one minute to 18 minutes.
Around 6% of all sessions lasted for more than one hour, compared to 7% in Q3 2023.
The GC also highlighted that “one operator has re-classified some of its products into the slot vertical this quarter”, which may have impacted the dataset in comparison to Q3 the previous year.
Q3 2024-25 is the penultimate quarter measured before the introduction of the statutory levy for the gambling industry, which will see online operators hand over 1.1% of their GGY.
Earlier this week, the GC announced plans to introduce mandatory deposit limits for players making their first deposits with an operator. The measure set to come into effect from October 2025.