Gambling in the UK has reached a Record High

Good news for the UK gambling industry as according to a report from the UK’s Gambling Commission, gamblers in Britain spent a record £13.8 billion ($17.8 billion USD) in the 12-month period from October 2015 and ending in September 2016.

Gambling in the UK has reached a Record HighSimply said, sports betting and casino operators are making a large profit as gamblers are betting on even more than before.

For the online sports betting industry, which is also the largest betting sector in the UK with a 32% share, it was a great year with £4.5 billion ($5.8 billion) in bets.  This was a 7% increase from the £4.2 billion ($5.4 billion) won from April 2015 to March 2016.

Of that 32% market share, casino games were the big money generator with £2.4bn in gross gambling yield which came mostly from slot machine.  In terms of sports related betting, football and horse racing brought in the most money.

During that period of time, bookmakers made a record £1.4bn in football bets alone with £333.4m in profits.

Even though this is good news for the gambling industry as whole, many see this report as a sign of warning for the UK population.

This new data has placed the relationship football and gambling have under scrutiny with Joey Barton, a midfielder who criticized the Football Association for its “dependence on betting.   Barton was suspended for 18 months after admitting a football association charge related to betting and a month later released by Burley.

The Football Association is now considering its relationship with gambling companies by reviewing some of its long term deals which also include alcoholic companies.  They are expected to make a decision as to whether they should change its policies this summer.

For the 147 land based casinos in the UK, they saw a 15% increase in gross gambling yield with almost £1.2bn.  The rest of the gambling revenue came from assorted games which include the lottery.  This has lead to an increase in companies looking at investing in the sports betting industry.  Several sports betting software companies have reported that their sales have increased by 20% last year.  Pay per head operations have also notices a sharp increase in sales by as much as 23%.

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