The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) reported that online total gross gaming revenue (GGY) increased by more than 10% year-on-year in the country’s gaming market in Q2 2024. The total number of online bets and active accounts also increased during the period.
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Slot machine revenue also increased by more than 15% compared to the same period last year, but the commission included the caveat that an operator reclassified some of its products, affecting the data.
UKGC data on the gaming sector features online and in-person betting, covering licensed betting operators found on the UK’s high streets. To date, the entity has been collecting data from March 2020 to September 2024.
Additionally, the UKGC continues to state that it is investigating the categorization of certain products, which may result in some data changing between verticals, but added that it “should have no impact on the overall totals.”
According to Q2 data on the UK gaming market – from July to September – the Commission noted that:
- Online betting covers approximately 80% of the gaming market
- GGY stood at £1.32 billion, an increase of 11% on the previous year.
However, the quarter’s figure was below the £1.46 billion reported during the release of Q1 data earlier this year in August.
The total number of bets and/or spins increased 12% year-on-year in the second quarter, reaching a new record for the third consecutive quarter of 25.2 billion. Meanwhile, the monthly average of active accounts in the quarter increased by 8%.
Slot machine GGY also reached a new record with £680 million in the quarter, a 16% increase on the previous year, as the number of spins grew 13% to 23.3 billion, while the monthly average of active accounts increased by 16%, to 4.4 million per month.
Increased betting on real events in the UK
But while slot machine GGY was a new record in the second quarter, one operator reclassified some of its products in the slot machine vertical this quarter. This has had an impact on vertical data.
The number of online slot sessions lasting more than an hour increased by 9% compared to the previous year, reaching 10 million. But the average session length remained at 17 minutes.
Approximately 6.1% of all sessions lasted more than an hour (Q2 2023: 6.6%). But the number of spins per session and GGY per session were down compared to the same quarter last year.
Revenue from betting on real events increased 6% year-on-year to £453 million. However, the number of bets decreased by 10%, while the average monthly active accounts in the second quarter increased by 9%.
In other verticals in terms of revenue, other games (including casino) came in at £153 million:
- Online betting was worth £9.5 million
- Bets on eSports stood at £4.1 million
- Poker was £13.1 million
- Other modalities at £1.7 million
Turning to data from licensed betting operators, which covers approximately 85% of the retail betting market, GGY decreased by 1% year-on-year to £533 million, while the total number of bets and spins decreased by 0.1% to 3.1 billion.
Across all products, the counter registered £152.1 million, self-service betting terminals totaled £100.6 million and machines reached £280.7 million.
