UK online gambling showed a spike in participation both at home and at the office in 2019, while online in-play sports betting continues to fall.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) released its latest gambling participation survey for 2019, which found that 47% of respondents had engaged in some form of gambling in the past four weeks, up one point from the 2018 survey. That number falls to 32% (unchanged) when you exclude those whose only gambling was on National Lottery draws.<\/p>\n
Online gambling participation was up three points to 21% in 2019, but this figure shrinks to 16.6% (+2.2 points) excluding online lottery-only participants. Those who gamble online are significantly more likely to do so via their mobile devices (50%, +6) than their laptops (38%, -6) or desktop computers (26%, -2).<\/p>\n
Most online gamblers choose to play at home (95%), although those who sneak in a little play at work was up three points to 15% (largely driven by those in the 45-54 age demo). A slightly smaller number (12%) gamble during their daily commute to work.<\/p>\n
Among sports bettors, online participation was up nine points to 81% while retail betting fell 13% to 27%. Similarly, far more racing bettors are choosing to do so online (61%) than in-person (49%, -15).<\/p>\n
Among online gamblers, in-play betting participation fell two points to 21% in 2019 (down five points from 2017), with the most dramatic decline in bettors aged 25-34 (30%, -8). The only age demo to post an in-play increase was the 35-44 group (29%, +2).<\/p>\n
The frequency of overall gambling was either flat or down in all categories except those who gamble once a month, less than once a week, which rose two points to 33%.<\/p>\n
Those who gambled on a machine in a betting shop fell by nearly half to just 0.8% in 2019, likely due to the government-imposed reduction in maximum betting stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT) from 100 to just 2 in April 2019.<\/p>\n
SELF-EXCLUSION, T&CSThe industrys efforts to promote self-exclusion policies appear to be paying off, as awareness of such programs has risen 12 points to 47% since 2015. Only 5% of gamblers have ever registered for self-exclusion, while around 9% of gamblers have used financial limit options, unchanged from 2018.<\/p>\n
(The survey contains some problem gambling data but this relies on previously released information from the Health Survey England 2018.)<\/p>\n
Interestingly, while the number of online gamblers who bother to read operators terms and conditions remains small (21%), a clear majority (65%, +4) of those who did said they found them to be helpful, while 26% found the terms to be unfair.<\/p>\n
SOCIAL MEDIA, ADVERTISINGThe percentage of online gamblers who follow a gambling firms social media accounts slipped three points to 23%, with most of the decline coming via older age demos.<\/p>\n
Statistics on weekly viewing of gambling advertising and sponsorships were down nearly 3% across the board, with online gamblers more likely to be exposed to such marketing (and mostly through sports merchandise sponsorship) than those who dont gamble online.<\/p>\n
GENERAL PERCEPTIONThe number of respondents who felt gambling is fair and can be trusted fell one point to 29% while those who think gambling is associated with crime jumped five points to 43%. Respondents were most likely to base their opinions on gambling from television news reports (40%) than via personal experience (31%) or newspapers (26%).<\/p>\n
While overwhelming majorities of respondents think theres too many gambling opportunities (82%, +3) and gambling threatens families (73%, +2), three-fifths of respondents believe it should be up to the individual to decide if and when to gamble, although that latter stat was down two points from 2018.<\/p>\n
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UK online gambling on the rise, in-play betting continues to fall - CalvinAyre.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UK online gambling showed a spike in participation both at home and at the office in 2019, while online in-play sports betting continues to fall. Continue reading