The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is reporting a sizable drop in gambling activity across the country as the COVID-19 quarantine drags on. The August 2020 dip suggests that gambling critics were a bit off base in their predictions about what would happen to locked down punters.
Overall, August 2020 gambling activity was down across the entire gambling spectrum. Literally every market saw a decrease from its July revenue. Though, in fairness to the UK gambling industry, some of the declines were pretty minuscule.
For example, the total number of slots bets for the entire country fell just one percent month-to-month. What’s more, the total number of slots sessions lasting over an hour fell by seven percent. These statistics should be music to the ears of the UK’s legions of gambling critics but, alas, they’ve yet to launch a celebration.
The UKGC was equally unimpressed and pressed upon UK-facing operators the importance of following the rules, and the prospect that the rules could change as the COVID-19 situation evolves. In an official statement the agency said, “The UK Gambling Commission’s report on August 2020 shows that the country’s punters slowed down their activity as the pandemic wore on.”
England’s gambling regulators are correct to take a wait-and-see approach to impact of COVID-19 on the gambling industry. This seems especially prudent in light of the fact that the UK is seeing another big corona virus surge that could lead to more shutdowns in the immediate future.