The British gambling industry has gone from strength to strength. Government statistics, collected by the Gambling Commission, indicate continued growth in the industry. More interestingly, remote gambling – that is, digital, outside of bookmakers shops – has taken a majority share of the market for the first time, now comprising 52.3% of all wagers. While legislative changes such as the Gambling Act Review have stripped back some powers from the gambling companies, they continue to grow. Underpinning the continued strength of their performance is the digital technology at the foundation of the market.
Gambling apps
Betting via digital app has become the go-to for most consumers. All of the major players have joined the digital world; now, Bet365, William Hill and Betfair have an android app in addition to Apple-based variants. The huge success of these apps has been seen in the stock price of Flutter, an open-source coding base used in the production of many Android apps. According to Reuters, the company hit record revenues of $1.4 billion (£1.04 billion) in 2020 due to the roaring success and new development of gambling apps. While a slight downturn has now been forecast, that was to be expected, and growth is steady. Furthermore, the appetite for foreign sports in the UK market seems likely to drive further development and growth.
Spreading the wings
British gambling has typically been focused on the national sports; football, rugby and cricket, with a good measure of darts and golf thrown in. According to the Financial Times, gambling firms found that the 2022 Super Bowl broke records in terms of the amount of bets coming from UK accounts, with one company describing the event as a ‘blockbuster’. The Super Bowl is, of course, a hugely statistical game, and American gamblers have long enjoyed playing the numbers game on small wagers. This trend creeping into UK betting bodes well for the industry and for the variety of markets likely to be offered in the future.
The rise of esports
Another phenomenon creeping into British betting is esports. Esports is popular in America, and wildly popular in East Asia – South Korea in particular has had an incredibly active esports scene for many years now, with China and Vietnam not far behind. According to UKTech magazine, Overwatch League and DotA 2 have attracted millions of dollars in bets over the years, evolving from the classic gambling market (which concerned strictly in-game ‘skins’, graphical changes to customise characters) and into real cash wagers. While esports is yet to take off in style in the UK, several major tournaments have been hosted across the country; Birmingham hosted the renowned ESL One tournament in 2019, for instance.
With new markets comes new opportunities, and that’s exciting for the UK betting sector. The framework and apps to support change are in place, and now it’s a case of the new markets capturing the attention of gamblers. Sports both physical and digital will continue to make their entry and drive growth in the market.
