The UK set out a much-delayed overhaul of the rules governing its £14 billion-a-year ($17.5 billion) gambling industry, even as its businesses export their tactics to the rest of the world. The new rules are designed to prevent problem gambling.
(Bloomberg) — The UK set out a much-delayed overhaul of the rules governing its £14 billion-a-year ($17.5 billion) gambling industry, even as its businesses export their tactics to the rest of the world. The new rules are designed to prevent problem gambling.
The proposed rules will lower maximum bets, require more background checks, and introduce a tax to fund research and treatment for problem gambling, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said in a statement to Parliament on Thursday.
Proposals include:
- Background checks after someone loses £125 in a month or £500 in a year, and more detailed checks following a £1,000 loss in 24 hours or £2,000 in 90 days
- Mandating a cross-operator harm prevention system with data sharing, to prevent problem gamblers hopping from one gambling firm to another
- Reviewing the design and targeting of incentives like free bets and bonuses
- Creating an ombudsman for customer redress
- Loosening rules on brick-and-mortar casinos, letting them host more machines
The white paper follows two and a half years’ work under four successive culture ministers to update the nearly 20-year-old law that predates the explosion in mobile betting.
Proposals were awaiting the prime minister’s sign-off almost a year ago, but were delayed by the collapse of Boris Johnson’s government. Since then, the UK has named two new prime ministers and re-shuffled government appointments each time, delaying the regulation.
The UK is home to some of the world’s biggest gambling operators, including Ladbrokes-owner Entain Plc and 888 Holdings Plc. The biggest, Dublin-based Flutter Entertainment Plc, is London-listed and has offices and hundreds of betting shops in the UK.
Since the US lifted its ban on sports betting in 2018, Europe’s bookmakers have struck out abroad, agreeing to mega-deals with US rivals and parlaying decades of know-how into bigger, fresher markets.
Flutter’s market capitalization has increased to about £28 billion from £6 billion five years ago. In 2022, the US became Flutter’s biggest market by revenue, and it’s pursuing other acquisitions abroad too. It’s preparing to announce shareholder approval for a secondary listing in the US, according to a person familiar with the matter, underscoring the shift in the company’s center of gravity.
The government estimated a hit to the industry’s gross gambling yield between £329 million and £812 million, mostly coming from the financial risk checks, according to the white paper.
Read more: Flutter Eyes International Acquisitions as Gambling Consolidates
The long road to Thursday’s announcement has meant some of the biggest businesses have already put some measures in place, such as cutting television advertising during live sport, trials of online stake limits, and a voluntary levy paid by the biggest operators. England’s Premier League agreed a ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships earlier this month.
Goodbody analyst David Brohan said “today’s outcome is largely a positive one for the sector” thanks to preemptive measures from operators and “effective lobbying to ensure more draconian measures were avoided.”
The government will launch a series of consultations starting this summer with changes to follow in the form of legislation, and new powers for the regulator.
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