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Noah Turner, Turner Technical Consulting (TTC) Incorporated
noahturner@live.ca
“From a technical perspective, the UK’s approach to regulation is both reasonable and balanced. Requirements are sufficiently comprehensive to promote an overall atmosphere of gaming that is fair, safe and secure, without forcing applicants to undertake an overly strict or onerous process. Requirements are fleshed-out fairly well, so as to provide some clarity and direction to those tasked with achieving compliance, namely suppliers, operators and third-party test houses. Each requirement can be traced back to an underlying aim, which can be very helpful in attempting to interpret each requirement. While there are certainly other jurisdictions with more detailed and wide-ranging technical requirements, the UK Gambling Commission has succeeded in establishing themselves among the top-tier jurisdictions in Europe, and around the world. Suppliers and operators seeking to benefit from the credibility of working in a top-tier jurisdiction, without having to take on the most challenging of compliance regimes, would do well to consider UK as home for their iGaming website.”
infoRmation panel ADULT POPULATION: ..........................52 million HOME BROADBAND: .........................73 per cent CURRENT LEGISLATION:
......Gambling Act 2005
REMOTE GAMING PERMITTED: ............................. Betting, casino, bingo, gaming machines, software and lotteries.
NOT PERMITTED: ................................................ Spread betting and National Lottery (although tickets can be aided by internet or email)
ONLINE GAMING TAX: ......................................... 15% on profits and corporation tax of 28%
LICENCES:
.................Varies but can cost up to ..........................£146,000 per year. (see chart)
SIZE OF MARKET: ................................................ 432 remote gambling licences (2009/10)
TOTAL GAMBLING TURNOVER: ..................£5.7bn TOTAL ONLINE GGR:............................ ¤1.092bn
APPROVED TESTING HOUSES: .............................
................Cast Ltd –
www.fairnesstesting.com .Gaming Assoc. –
www.gamingassociates.com ..............................GLI –
www.gaminglabs.com .................iTech Labs –
www.itechlabs.com.au
..............................NMi Certin BV –
www.nmi.nl .................................TST –
www.tstglobal.com
REGULATORY BODY: ............................................ The Gambling Commission Tel: ..................................+44 (0)121 230 6666
Email: ..........
info@gamblingcommission.gov.uk Website:
......www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk
familiar high street bookmakers, large remote only operators, smaller betting operators, fantasy football style remote pool betting operators, remote only bingo and casino operators, smaller bingo and casino operators, society lotteries and businesses supplying gambling software.
The remote betting industry is made up of the large and familiar high street bookmakers such as Gala Coral and Tote and large remote only operators such as Betfair and Bet365 plus the smaller remote operators.
Exchange betting, which originated in the US, was introduced into Great Britain in 1999 and is dominated by Betfair which has the largest exchange in the world followed by Betdaq and MyBet. Internet betting has lead to more transparency in prices and increased liquidity. Exchanges are now able to offer lower prices than traditional online bookmakers due to the efficiency of the operation.
The Gambling Commission offers a licence for each type of gambling activity including betting, bingo, casino games, gaming machines, gambling software and lotteries.
Licences are not required if all the remote gambling equipment is located outside of Great Britain however if a company is based abroad and wants to advertise its gambling services in the UK then they must be based in a white-
listed country mentioned in the Gambling Act. These currently include EEA countries, Alderney, Antigua and Barbuda, Gibraltar, Isle of Man and Tasmania.
Advertising has to comply with advertising codes of practice and bars them from aiming advertising at under 18s or featuring people who seem to be younger than 25.
The number of operators licensed by the Commission during the year 2009/10 to carry out remote gambling activities was 432 compared to 366 the previous year. This increase was primarily due to society lotteries obtaining remote operating licences.
The British gambling industry generated a gross gambling yield during the year 2009/10 of £5.7bn. This was a one per cent reduction on the previous year. The non-remote betting sector has the lion’s share of the market with 52 per cent following by casinos (14%) and bingo sectors (12%). The remote gaming
the uk GamBlinG industRy
GeneRated £5.7Bn duRinG the yeaR 2009/10.
sector represents 11 per cent of the market.
In 2010 the total amount wagered on remote gambling activities was almost £12bn of which betting took the most significant chunk with around £11bn followed by the casino sector and bingo with the remainder. The GGY in 2010 was £634m in total for betting, bingo and casino. The UK online gaming sector is worth around £1.5bn a year.
Here’s a brief look at the British remote gambling market in terms of figures during the last 12 months (to March 2010):
• Most remote gambling available to the British is provided by operators based outside of Britain.
• 10.7 per cent of 8,000 adults surveyed said they had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous four weeks. Around half had participated in National Lottery products.
• The 10.7 per cent compares to 10.5 per cent in 2009 and 9.7 per cent in 2008 and 8.8 per cent in 2007.
• This growth is largely associated with increased online participation in National Lottery products. If these products were removed some 5.7 per cent of adults surveyed had played online gaming.
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united kinGdom
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