British online market worth £3bn
New figures from the Gambling Commission shine light on scale of recently re-regulated market
Great Britain’s online gambling industry is likely to have generated more than £3bn in revenues during its first full year since re-regulation, data released by the Gambling Commission reveals.
Figures for the five months from 1 November 2014, when the new Point of Consumption regime went live, to the end of March 2015 show total online gross gaming yield from British players totalled £1.45bn – already more than the 12 months prior to regulation which brought in £1.1bn.
Extrapolated over the full year, even in the absence of a major summer football tournament, it is likely that operators brought in revenues in excess of £3bn during the first 12 months following the introduction of PoC.
Total turnover for the five-month period was £13.8bn, putting the industry on track to turnover around £33bn for the year.
Casino remains Britain’s largest online vertical, accounting for £834m of revenue for the five-month period, more than half of all recorded revenues.
Betting, inclusive of exchanges, accounted for £528m in revenues, with football making up the largest portion with a £168m share.
Across the other sports, horseracing generated GGY of £128m for the period, followed by £25.3m for tennis and £9.2m for dogs.
The Commission also said the remote sector employed 7,136 people in the UK, while more than 185,000 people had self-excluded during the period.
Figures for the full year are due to be released in June.