UK government estimates new stake limits could cost slots industry £166m per year
Following the proposed introduction of new £5 and £2 betting limits on slots in the UK last week, the government has predicted gross gaming revenue could tumble as a result of the changes
The new limits of £5 per stake on slot bets for the over 25s and £2 for those aged 18-24 introduced last Friday as part of the UK’s white paper on gambling reform could have a significant impact on gross gambling revenue, with the government predicting it could cost the industry up to £166.2m per year.
Though part of a wider strategy to bring the country’s gambling legislation into the digital age, the proposed limits have been the subject of fierce debate among the online betting community, with some consultation respondents arguing they will limit freedom and also be extremely costly to enforce.
In addition to the UK government’s forecasts, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) added that the new gambling limits could see gross gambling yield reduce as a percentage of online slots GGY in 2022-23 by 5.2%, with this contributing to a 2.6% reduction in total remote GGY for the same period.
Nevertheless, the DCMS reiterated that “a £5 limit will achieve the government’s stated objectives in a proportionate way, with a lower risk of unintended consequences such as displacement to the illegal online market”, and also highlighted that currently only 0.6% of all UK spins made online were over £5.
The £2 limit, meanwhile, has been a more contentious issue. Though 30% percent of the government’s consultation respondents were in favour of a lower limit for younger adults, other people argued that such restrictions would require “extensive development by operators and software providers and would be far more complex and costly to implement than introducing a universal limit”.
That being said, according the DCMS, “nearly all” respondents believed that a £10 limit would “strike a balance between protection and freedom” – indicating that an ambition within the industry to better protect players from runaway losses is there – with the department also adding that “boundary-pushing” products as Slingo, which combine gameplay elements of slots and bingo, could also be subjected to the new limits in the future.