Online casinos may have gained a lot of traction over the past few years but data from the UK Gambling Commission, UKGC, shows that the online alternative still have a long way to go before it can compete with brick and mortar casinos.
A report released by the UKGC showing what has been going on in the world of online gambling for the last 12 months has all the facts and figures. The period the survey was carried out was between October 2015 and September 2016. In this period, gambling experienced a rise in the total revenue, taking it to £13.82b. The 3% rise shows that the industry is on a steady growth curve and the online scene is bound to pick up in the long run.
The most recent report from the commission shows that online gambling is the highest revenue earner, a fact that has remained constant since the last survey. In the period between 2015 and 2016, revenues from online gambling were at £4.23b. The figure has risen to £4.46b in 2017, making online gambling the highest earner when it comes to wagering. The figures considered by the commission include only UK-licensed operators offering wagering options to UK
clients. When taken into account, remote betting took the figure up to nearly £4.8b.
Euro 2016 spurred things for online betting
The football tournament increased remote betting by 10% which brought the total revenue for remote betting to £1.7b. Exchange betting also contributed to a revenue increase, bringing in another £170m. As much as remote betting may have increased by double digits, it still could not beat online casinos, which raked in £2.4b even though it was a growth of less than 3%. Online bingo took a hit as it reduced to £149m. However, pool betting enjoyed an upsurge of 16% to bring it to £30.2m.
New and active accounts increased
The period between 2015 and 2016 recorded an increase in the number of new users who joined online casinos. The actual numbers were 28.4m up from 23.7m. This is quite the astounding figure as the adult population in UK adds up to around 50m. Active accounts also increased from 20m to 21.4m.
The surge in popularity for online casino wagering can be attributed mostly to the incentives that they offer. The casinos offer players the opportunity to win real money with free spins and follow it up with huge casino bonuses. Aside from the incentives from such operators, one cannot downplay the role of online casino guides. The casino guides have become the go-to-source for every new player who wants to know about casino rankings, best casino bonuses and free spins and practically any other information concerning the online scene.
Gaming software providers suffered a decline though
The UKGC also looked into revenues for gambling software which had dipped to £520.1m from £538.3m. Failing sales for game developers was the main reason they could not match their previous revenue generation. The sales decrease was a dip of 14% even though revenue share went up.
Land-based casinos posted a revenue increase of 3%, getting their earnings to £3.4b which was much higher than the national lottery which earned £3.26b, a 4.3% drop. Land-based casinos continue to enjoy a rise in revenues, which went up 19%, totaling £1.19b. Table games were
especially the most profitable revenue earners with Punto Banco and Baccarat being the favorite.
