Insight
UNITED KINGDOM Retail sports betting
Climate change: bookmakers are adapting to new landscapes
“1,141 betting shops have closed since 1st April 2019 when the stake change was introduced. This equates to 14 per cent of all high street betting shops - the total has dropped from 8,355 in April 2019 to 7,214 at the end of September. Each betting shop employs on average six members of staff, therefore while we don’t have exact figures on redundancies it is likely that up to 6,846 jobs have been lost to date.” Peter Craske,
Betting and Gaming Council
What does the New Year hold for the high street now that the limit on FOBTs is in place and what else lies ahead for the industry? How will sports betting shops adapt to the shifting regulatory environment and meet customer demand? And how are bookmakers ensuring that the industry is sustainable in the long term?
It has been a turbulent 12 months for UK high street bookmakers after the government cut the maximum stake permitted on fixed-odds terminals. Te decision went further than the recommendations of a review carried out by the gambling regulator earlier in 2019, which recommended the maximum stake for FOBTs should be set at or below £30. Te government finally cut the maximum stake allowed to £2 in April after complaints that the machines, which had previously let gamblers bet up to £100 every 20 seconds, were highly addictive.
Ten Culture Secretary Matt Hancock defended the measure saying that the government had chosen to take a stand in order “to protect vulnerable people.”
Indeed the immediate impact of the £2 maximum staking limit has been dramatic.
“1,141 betting shops have closed since 1st April 2019 when the stake change was introduced,” Peter Craske at the Betting and Gaming Council says. “Tis equates to 14 per cent of all high street betting shops - the total has dropped from 8,355 in April 2019 to 7,214 at the end of September.
“William Hill has closed 700 shops. In recent announcements, GVC said they still plan to close up to 900 shops in total (having closed 200 so far) and we know that Betfred have previously said up to 400 shops. Independent bookmaker ScotBet at their peak had 75 shops this has been reduced to 30 shops.
P58 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
“Each betting shop employs on average six members of staff, therefore while we don’t have exact figures on redundancies it is likely that up to 6,846 jobs have been lost to date.”
In its latest trade update published in November William Hill reported that in line with expectations retail like-for-like net revenue had fallen 16 per cent since the half year in line with expectations, driven by gaming net revenue –39 per cent. However this was offset by sportsbook net revenue plus 13 per cent as it continued to see some customers substitute sports betting for gaming activities. Te company reported that Gaming trends “are improving incrementally” as customer behaviour adjusts following the implementation of the £2 maximum staking limit.
According to GVC its UK Retail sector is transitioning well and its UK retail had been ahead of expectations in August. In October the company reported that like- for-like revenue in retail was down 18 per cent, driven by the cut in maximum FOBT stakes. For Flutter, owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, revenues from betting shops decreased sharply by 9 per cent to £75 million following the Government crackdowns on FOBTs.
Negative coverage, fuelled in many cases by unhelpful rhetoric from lawmakers, dominated the UK press for months. Despite the fact that bookmakers are making a concentrated effort to prevent gambling addiction the negative narrative continues as lawmakers seek to draw a false parallel between stakes on FOBTs and
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