U.K. Gambling Participation Falls, Lottery Remains Most Popular
Overall gambling participation in the U.K. has decreased by three percentage points since last year.
This is according to data published by the Gambling Commission May 22, as part of its Gambling Survey for Great Britain research conducted by NatCen.
Of those that said they had gambled within their last four weeks, 19 percent said they only took part in National Lottery or charity lottery draws.
The commission has reported that lottery games remain the most popular gambling activity but participation has fallen since October, from 37 percent to 34 percent.
Team Sponsor Exits U.K. After White Label Crackdown
TGP Europe has surrendered its U.K. white label license, throwing a number of U.K. football sponsorship deals into uncertainty.
TGP was told to pay a £3.3 million penalty. The fine follows an investigation into the operator and a number of white label football sponsorship deals.
TGP ran 29 websites in the U.K, including Duelbits.co.uk, Betvision.com, Leyubet.co.uk, Fun88.co.uk and Oubao.co.uk.
The Gambling Commission stated that TGP had failed to carry out sufficient checks on its business partners and had broken anti-money laundering rules.
Gambling Commission Reports Improved Rate of ‘Frictionless’ Financial Risk Checks
The U.K. Gambling Commission has revealed it conducted about 1.7 million assessments in the second stage of its pilot checking on financial risk among bettors, with 97 percent considered “frictionless.”
The checks are triggered when a bettor’s net monthly deposit reaches £500 ($671.29), with operators able to trigger checks with credit reference agencies.
Last August, the Gambling Commission launched the first stage of its financial risk checks pilot, as one of the major recommendations highlighted in the U.K.’s gambling review white paper.
The first phase of the pilot was seen by the Gambling Commission as a success, with 95 percent of assessments reported as frictionless.
Online Growth Pushes Paf to Record Revenue in 2024
Nordic-facing operator Paf reported record revenue during its 2024 financial year, driven by growth within its online gambling business, although earnings were slightly lower year-on-year due to higher tax rates.
Group revenue for the year ended 31 December 2024 hit €183.0 million ($207.4 million), Paf revealed in its full-year report. This surpassed €177.1 million in the previous year – the group’s existing record – by 3.3 percent
Growth was seen across both its online and land and ship segments in 2024. Online revenue for the year hit €161.2 million.
As for the land and sea segment, covering arcades and gaming operations on cruise ships and ferries, revenue fell 6.4 percent to €21.8 million. This was blamed on the negative impact of higher tax rates.
