UK GGY falls 13% in November as real-event sports betting normalises
Latest UKGC data reveals boosts for poker and esports as regulator concludes “the risk has increased for some consumers”
Online operators in the UK recorded a collective 13% fall in gross gambling yield (GGY) from October to November 2020, according to the latest data from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
November numbers showed total GGY fell by 13% to £471.5m month-on-month, with the UKGC stating the decrease in real-event betting was merely margin normalisation after high levels in October.
Real-event betting GGY dropped 28% from £290m in October to £209.2m in November, although the vertical remains the largest by GGY and also saw upticks in total bets and number of active accounts.
There were GGY increases across the remainder of the industry’s verticals, with poker, esports, casino and slots all recording monthly jumps.
Slots grew slightly by 3% to £176.3m, with casino games rising 6% to £66.4m.
Poker and esports, the stars of the initial lockdown period in H120, continued to grow. Poker recorded a 9% rise in GGY to £9.1m as esports skyrocketed 78% to £1.4m.
There was incremental monthly increases in active players and total bets across all verticals, with poker coming out with the most growth.
The number of poker players grew 11% to 342,070 in November, while the total number of bets placed on the vertical also rose by 11% to 106.8 million.
In terms of consumers, the UKGC concludes there has not been a “significant or sustained increase in gambling activity since the Covid-19 pandemic began”, with only 13% of those who have ever gambled reporting an uptake in gambling activity.
In fact, 60% of consumers said the amount they gamble remained unaffected by the pandemic, while 27% reported their gambling activity had decreased.
However, the UKGC did report that women aged under 35 are more likely to have started gambling since March 2020, with the majority flocking to online bingo and instant win games.
Since the start of the pandemic, with the population inundated with spare time, the UKGC reported that 45% of those who started gambling since March have cited boredom as an influence on their decision.
The UKGC said: “When considering the results of this research against the environmental factors brought by the new lockdown our view is that, although the majority of people are not gambling more, risk has increased for some consumers, including those who were already at risk.”