UK Sports Betting Revenue Data Reveals Notable Improvement During May

The Gambling Commission has today published even more data revealing the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on gambling behaviour.


The data shows the 2 months of full lockdown in April and May and was gathered from the biggest online operators and the YouGov Covid-19 . It develops on data released by the Commission on 12 May and more information published by the Commission on 12 June with the Commission issuing updated guidance to operators in May that included the requirement for improved affordability checks, the prevention of reverse withdrawals and restrictions on benefit offers.


The current information follows the very first two sets and also highlights an increase in real-event betting and sports wagering, partly due to the return, in May, of top-flight football through the German Bundesliga.


Overall involvement [1] has actually decreased however some engaged players are investing more time and money betting on certain products. Overall average invest per active customer [4] increased by 17% in May, compared to April.


A key component of the assistance issued to operators in May was the instruction to prevent reverse withdrawal options from June onwards [2] The data gathered throughout May revealed significant usage of operator reverse withdrawal functions, recommending that the Commission's updated assistance was both suitable and timely, and will make sure consumers are better secured from harm throughout the lockdown period.


Having examined the implications, the Commission will now continue to track and examine risk by:


- assessing the impact of the strengthened guidance provided to operators

- collecting and publishing the data being gathered

- dealing with the industry as land-based properties continue to open

- where proof identifies extra dangers dealt with by customers, taking further action to secure consumers.


The data was taken from YouGov's Covid-19 tracker [3], which covers a representative sample of circa 2,000 adults in Great Britain weekly, and from submissions of the greatest operators, covering roughly 80% of the whole online gambling market. [4]

The full report on Covid-19-related information is available on the Gambling Commission's website.