Land-based betting activities across the United Kingdom are waning with high street betting shops closing down since the summer. Thousands of betting shops are expected to shut down in the following months, as announced by some of the leading betting operators in the country, including William Hill, Ladbrokes Coral, and Betfred.
While bookmakers are blaming the stricter regulation and the recent cut of the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to £2, the reason for the apparent decline in land-based operations may hide in a very different tendency of the past few years, namely the rise of online betting and gambling.
Earlier this year, Britain’s top bookmakers said they were planning closures of some of their betting shops, an outcome they blamed on the government’s decision to finally implement the FOBT restrictions. In April, the new rules cutting the maximum bet on the controversial machines from £100 to £2 came into force following a lengthy anti-gambling campaign in the country.
As Casino Guardian previously reported, William Hill announced in July that it would be closing around 700 high street shops. GVC, the owner of Ladbrokes Coral, warned that it might have to shut down 900 shops that would not be as profitable to their business as they were until the stricter FOBT regulations. Betfred, another leading UK bookmaker with a considerable brick-and-mortar operation, predicted that it would probably close around 500 establishments.
Moreover, the betting operators announced that massive layoffs were to be expected. According to their projections, around a quarter of all betting shops in the country could close down, which would result in 12,000 lost jobs. William Hill has already closed its two betting outlets in the city of Lincoln, saying they were “uneconomic”. The company also admitted utilizing alternative practices such as employees’ voluntarily redundancy.
The Rise of Online Betting and How It Affects Land-Based Operations
Despite the gloomy prospects, voiced by bookmakers, however, there are still many betting shops working across the country. In fact, the betting and gambling sector in the UK is not experiencing a decline. On the contrary, latest industry statistics reveal quite the opposite – the online betting and casino sector is worth £5.3 billion in 2019, representing nearly 40 per cent of the entire gambling industry in the UK.
Data published earlier this year by the Gambling Commission shows that non-remote gambling remains the second-largest sector by Gross Gambling Yield with £3.2 billion. It remains stable although the number of betting establishments has decreased to 8,320 in 2019. Overall, the gambling industry in the UK has seen a slight decline of 0.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. With the improvement of technologies in the betting and casino industries, the digital form of gambling would most likely increase in popularity even more.
Bookmakers now are introducing more advanced mobile technologies, live casino games hosted by real, human dealers, as well as live streaming of sports events on betting platforms. Punters can place in-play bets on football matches, tennis or any other sport they prefer. It is hardly a surprise then that the online betting and gaming is slowly but certainly replacing brick-and-mortar betting shops.
- Author
Olivia Cole
