UK Online Slots GGY Could Fall Due to Stricter Regulation

2024 was another successful year for the UK gambling industry. As 2025 begins though, there are concerns that stricter regulation could hit finances. That’s particularly so in the hugely successful area of online slot games.

The UK gambling industry regularly attracts new companies who are looking to expand their business. Last year saw several newcomers being granted licenses by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). These included easyBet, Betano and Digitain who all followed in the footsteps of BetMGM who began operating in the UK along with several new casinos as per British Gambler.

October 2024  saw the UK Gambling Commission release figures for the three months to 30 September. Gross gambling yield (GGY) was £1.32 billion. That was an impressive performance but down on the £1.46 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2024. Online slots saw an increase of 16%  with a GGY of £680 million recorded. 

That was despite  a drop in the average number of spins and GGY per session. Players are spending longer trying to get wins on online slots with 10 million spinning the reels for over an hour, though the average session length for all players remained at 17 minutes. As you will read in this article, maintaining that excellent performance is going to be difficult.

Can all this success continue in the United Kingdom? There has been talk of stricter regulation of the UK gambling industry for many years now. This was expected to have taken place already but the Conservative Government failed to carry through its 2019 election manifesto pledge to reform the industry, particularly online gambling sites.

They came close with a White Paper on gambling reform published in 2023. Too many times though the chaos in Downing Street pushed gambling reform down the priority list. Last year saw Labour come to power and by the end of 2024, there were some measures announced that will likely hit the revenue figures of UK gambling operators.

One measure that will come into force in 2025 is a reduction in the maximum stakes for online slot games. As you have read, online slots provide massive amounts of revenue for gambling companies. The concerns are that such games are highly addictive.and many who seek help for gambling addiction mention the problems online slots have caused.

This has particularly been the case with younger players. The government has announced that the maximum stake for online slots will be reduced to £2 for those aged between 18 and 24. Older players will see their maximum stake reduced to £5.

Reducing maximum stake limits has previously been seen in High Street bookmakers. The fixed odds machines were seeing their players making some huge losses. After a long campaign, the maximum stake was reduced to £2 per game. This led to lost revenue, some shop closures and staff redundancies. The fear is that this similar move for online slots will seriously hit the high GGY that they have been achieving.

Another measure that has been introduced is the introduction of a statutory levy for UK gambling operators. This has the aim of generating £100 million a year and this will be used to fund the research, prevention and treatment of those who have suffered gambling harm. 

At present, gambling companies do make voluntary donations. However, the government has said that not all contribute equally and some pay as little as £1 a year. This new mandatory levy will ensure that a fair share is contributed by all operators. Just how much will be paid by those who have a UKGC licence will range from 0.1% to 1.1% of GGY.

Recently, the National Health Service (NHS) in England have released statistics that show a large increase in the number of gambling addiction referrals. Between April and September of last year, close to 2000 people were referred to gambling clinics. The figure for the same period in 2023 was approximately 800 people.

This has led to the NHS expanding their network of specialist gambling clinics with seven opening in the past year. That takes the total of clinics to 15 so the funding received from the new levy will be greatly appreciated.

These measures could lead to gamblers deciding to play on the unregulated black market. That would again see revenue for licensed operators hit and also reduce the levels of customer protection for those who play on the black market.

2025 therefore promises to be an interesting year for the UK gambling industry. They breathed a sigh of relief when the level of gambling duties wasn’t increased in the recent budget. The new measures being introduced are likely to hit GGY and more such as stricter affordability checks may also be on the way. All of which makes 2025 a worrying time for the industry.