Gambling is an essential and beloved part of UK culture. Whether it be having a flutter on the Grand National once a year, travelling to one of the country’s world-famous casinos or even playing at online casinos in the UK, almost all British citizens have some betting experience. However, things could be about to change over the next few years with tighter gambling regulations being discussed in the House of Commons. This begs the question; will the UK Gambling Industry survive these changes?
Before we answer that question, let us first have a look at what changes have been implemented in the recent past. The last real significant piece of gambling regulation passed in the UK was the Gambling Act which was signed in 2005. The aims of this act were said to be threefold.
- preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime,
- ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and
- protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling
In practice the Act did several things, including setting up the UK Gambling Commission – which continues to regulate and grant licenses today – as well as regulating online casinos for the first time ever. The Act also permitted gambling companies to advertise on the television and radio.
Since 2005, regulation of the UK Gambling Industry remained unchanged – until fairly recently. In 2019, the government introduced restrictions on fixed-odds betting terminals in betting shops, Then, earlier this year, the Gambling Commission outlawed the use of credit cards when making deposits at an online casino. There’s also plans in the works for stricter verification processes to protect minors. The Commission is unlikely to stop there as well, with plans for stricter regulation increasingly gaining more cross-party support in parliament.
The million-dollar question here is whether these changes spell doom for the UK Gambling Industry? We’d have to argue that no, they do not.
While operators can do little to stem the tide of this forthcoming increase in regulation, they should be able to adapt to it fairly easily. One thing that the industry has always been is flexible. When online casinos first emerged, many people were concerned that it meant the end for brick and mortar betting shops and casinos. This proved not to be the case with both adapting their business models to stay competitive. It is likely that operators will simply do this once again in order to get around the increase in regulation.
The online casino market in the US is becoming increasingly like the UK where legislations are getting tighter and operators are licensing in the US. There are lots of online casinos available to US players from companies located outside of the US, that offer very similar games and setup as can be seen on www.mobilecasinosus.com.
Also, the UK government is unlikely to let the Gambling Industry fall by the wayside due its integral worth to the country’s economy. All in all, the Treasury received a £2.9 billion boost to its coffers from the industry in 2017/2018 and this number looks set to steadily increase in the future. Because of this, we predict that this swathe of new regulation will be accompanied with several measures that should make it easier for the industry to survive.
