UK Gambling Commission: Sports betting beats slots for winning

The latest figures from the UK Gambling Commission show that 2020 was not exactly the best for slot machine providers . The likely reason: Sports betting was amazingly popular in the UK following the return of major sporting events.

Are the slots on the decline?

UK Gambling Commission has released some interesting figures showing that slots, which have been a popular game of chance for years, are not quite as successful this year as they usually are. The profit made by slots was 157 in September, 4 million pounds and thus 4.1 percent lower than in September 2019. Sales also fell by 4.1 percent to 4.71 billion pounds. That in itself is amazing. But perhaps even more exciting is that more players were active in September 2020 than in September 2019. That can only mean one thing: the gaming budget has fallen on average. There can be different reasons for this. One possibility: Many gambling fans have economic problems at the moment and therefore may not even have the financial means to use as much money as last year for the slots hobby.

But the general uncertainty could also contribute to the fact that many gambling fans are playing with smaller stakes than last year. One obvious reason why slots and gaming revenues have been falling somewhat in the UK over the past few months is because of sports betting. Apparently there was a lot of catching up to do after the betting shops online and offline couldn't offer much in the spring. Almost all major sporting events had to be canceled. For Great Britain, it was crucial that the Premier League resume operations. The turnover with sports betting has increased significantly in the last few months, also because, unlike in the previous year, there was no long summer break.




In September, bookmakers in Great Britain had a turnover of 189.7 million pounds with sports betting. That is an increase of 15.3 percent compared to the previous year. The number of active bookmaker customers increased by 13.9 percent. There were 4.3 million sports betting fans in the UK as of September, placing a total of 246.6 million bets. These are impressive figures that clearly show how much sports betting has been lacking for the numerous football fans and other sports fans. But the current UK Gambling Commission figures also show that gambling and sports betting fans do not have unlimited budgets. When more is invested in sports betting, less is spent on gambling. Sales with esports also fell significantly after a strong spring. This is an expected development, because most sports betting fans usually opt for classic sports rather than modern esports. Esport will remain a niche sport for the foreseeable future, as the current figures show very nicely. That doesn't mean esports doesn't have any growth potential. But even the boldest esports proponents do not assume that esports will be as big as soccer, tennis or basketball in the foreseeable future.

The gaming and sports betting market faces major challenges

Perhaps the gambling providers and bookmakers have already had their worst. But at the moment nobody can rule out that some difficult months will not come. The current forecasts suggest that by summer 2021 a large part of the crisis could have dissipated in favor. But there is still a lot of time until then and, especially in winter, the crisis could worsen considerably. No one can seriously rule out an interruption in the game operations of the major football leagues. This would be fatal, especially for companies that are exclusively involved in the stationary gaming and sports betting business. The online casinos have come through the crisis quite well so far. With the many companies and corporations that are active online and land based,

It is completely clear that the numbers that are currently being produced on the gambling and sports betting market in Great Britain are due to the particular crisis situation. But it is noteworthy that the entire market has recovered relatively quickly. The shift from the slotsSports betting is exciting, but probably not a long-term trend. There is no reason to assume that the slots will become slow slackers anytime soon.




In the next year the situation will normalize more or less and it will then be clear by 2022 at the latest whether the crisis in 2020 has had a long-term effect on the development of the gaming and sports betting market. Ultimately, it is decided by the many gambling and sports betting fans. But one important factor should not be ignored: It will also be decisive how the UK Gambling Commission, together with politics, will regulate games of chance and sports betting in the future. That may even be the decisive factor for the overall development in the end.