Gambling on the Rise: Locked Doors sees Lift Off

Face Masks flourish and Casinos Cash-in as Travel teeters and Betting buckles – whatever you may have thought about the world and its’ success stories has been turned on its’ head by this recent lockdown. But while industry behemoths in affected verticals shore up their cash reserves to stay afloat, other verticals have seen even the smallest of players thrust into the limelight with savvy marketing and an unparalleled customer uplift in demand.

The gambling industry in the UK has always been a big player, with sportsbooks and casinos spread throughout the different cities and online casino sites seeing record numbers of new legislation efforts passed, but this recent lockdown has turned many of the industry players on their heads. Those with successful bookies have seen a devastating dive as there are no sports being played or broadcast whilst those who had Casino offerings have enjoyed record revenue surges as new customers, bored by their never-changing environments, have turned to gambling at home and on their mobiles to pass the time. In fact, whilst the bookies have seen heavy red figures, the increase in gambling as a whole entity has been huge! 

While largely down to the lockdown and despite the limitations brought into place on gambling advertising by the UK government in an effort to protect those most vulnerable to the allure, faster broadband connections, larger mobile device screens and an ever-growing selection of blockbuster slots and live dealer games has made mobile platforms more popular than ever. In turn, all of these things coupled together has led to an explosion in online gambling and – according to our well-placed sources – a huge jump in GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue) and new customer deposits.

So is this trend set to stay or are we likely to see it ebb back once the lockdown has lifted? Arguably a point for nothing but speculation, any lifting of the lockdown is unlikely to see a huge rise in footfall at the Bingo halls and Casinos meaning people who have taken to gambling as a hobby won’t have an alternative source to play at – at least not for the start. In terms of the bettors who have found themselves drifting towards the casinos – many of the online bookmakers already featured slot machines and soft-play games at their websites, so this is unlikely to change … not to mention that the likes of UK football games and horse racing are more in the ‘theory stage’ of returning rather than concrete dates. Of course, there are eSports for bettors to turn to in place of casino games and slot machines – but these remove any ‘edge’ the punters might feel they have and so feels a little more stale than the real thing.

So it seems for now that the rise in gambling looks set to continue – and with no certainty around the future of brick and mortar casinos or when normalcy might return to people’s lives – why would we expect anything to change the current surge in popularity.