The global COVID-19 pandemic that struck at the beginning of 2020 changed life as we knew it worldwide. With people forced to stay at home, entertainment venues shut their doors and, for many, remained closed for an extended period.
Many popular hangouts like restaurants, movie theatres, bowling alleys, and casinos shuttered, and some offered alternatives for people stuck at home, while others did not. Platforms like Britbox and ITV Live replaced theatres, and casino sites replaced gambling venues.
Due to this, some industries soared as people moved their regular physical activities online, even amid the pandemic. One of the most prominent industries that saw a massive boom included online gambling.
However, now that global lockdowns have passed and the world is starting to move on, this boom that catapulted the industry has begun to crash. So, join us as we look at the rise and fall of this boom and where this popular pastime is heading.
The Boom of Lockdown Gambling
With casinos closed, many avid UK gamblers were left with no physical place to pursue the thrill of winning. Thankfully, the many online casinos that had existed for years, and a few new ones, moved in to fill the void.
As a result, many players found a way to play, even during the strictest of lockdowns. In fact, this move online was recorded and documented as early as May 2020, just two months after the initial lockdowns began.
In a report by BBC, Google Trends showed that more people in the UK were searching online for online casinos than ever before. This showed that gamers in the country, though banned from their favourite casinos, were not about to give up on trying to scratch their gambling itch.
As proof that these search results were correct, UK players registered around 15.28 million new online player accounts in just six months (between April 2020 and September 2020).
As further evidence of the rise in online gambling in the country during the lockdown, the UK Gambling Commission reported that £3.1 billion of the gross gambling yield (GGY) in the UK during the same six months came from remote betting or online casinos. This accounted for 52.3% of the total £5.9 billion GGY for the six months.
Of this substantial amount, online slots were the most significant contributor. These generated around £1.9 billion and proved that online slots are developing to appeal to players’ gaming desires.
Sadly, while online casinos benefited massively from the lockdowns and resultant exodus to online platforms, all good things must end. Instead, once lockdowns ended and people were able to return to their brick-and-mortar casinos, the industry suddenly saw a loss of players—and income)
The Fall of Lockdown Gambling
After casinos and other entertainment venues reopened, many players who had moved their gaming activities online returned to the physical establishments they had once enjoyed. Doing so significantly boosted the local economy and allowed many people to return to their jobs after months at home.
However, along with this move back to physical spaces came the imminent end of the gambling boom caused by the lockdown. This was seen across the industry, with some websites, such as Flutter, posting massive losses in 2021.
What was unexpected was that this fall of lockdown gambling online was not only due to the end of lockdowns and people venturing out. The UK government had a strong hand in accelerating this fall.
In December 2020, the UK government began a review of the current gambling laws in the country. The main concern cited was the addiction to gambling prominent in the country and the exposure of children to gambling habits.
This new bout of changes to current regulation followed changes already made in 2018 that changed the maximum bet players could wager on physical slots from £100 to just £2. The new wave of regulations, now set to be released in May 2022, aim to impose the same restrictions on online slots.
In addition, these further regulations against online casinos also recommend actions to limit the amount that players can deposit into their player accounts during a specific period. There is also mention that players will need to pass an affordability check before being allowed to deposit.
This continuing uncertainty over the future of online gambling in the country has seen some online casinos—such as the once-popular WinTrillions—cease operation in the UK. The exit of some online casinos from the region accelerated an already falling number of players.
Proof of this is that by March 2021, the number of registered gambling operators with the UK Gambling Commission fell by 5.4% compared to 2020. Many of these license holders operated not just online casinos but also sports betting and lottery betting services.
The Future of Online Gambling in the UK
While the gambling bubble that occurred due to the 2020 lockdowns has almost certainly burst, that doesn’t mean that online gambling will disappear. Even after the downward turn in 2021, online gambling is still gaining traction year on year—as it has been since around 2016.
Therefore, unless the government decides to implement strict regulations that will ultimately chase players (and providers) away, many people will continue enjoying online gambling. This, as before, will be easily seen by the enormous revenue generated by these online casinos.
So, while online gambling has been on a rollercoaster over the last two years thanks to COVID-19, lockdowns, and government intervention, things don’t look bad for the industry overall. In fact, by all accounts, online gambling seems to be taking a slow ride right to the top of the gaming industry tower.
