The members of the UK’s Betting and Gaming Council, which includes large brands like Bet365, GVC Holdings, Flutter Entertainment, William Hill, and several other large gambling brands will voluntarily suspend all TV and radio gambling ads during the COVID-19 lockdown.
In alignment with their social responsibility pledges, these operators will replace the ads they have already paid for with safe gambling messages. They will also make donations to charity and remove ads from TV and radio completely.
It is understood that this policy will take effect no later than May 7th and will last until at least June 5th, after which it will be reviewed. The move comes after the UK government warned gambling operators not to take advantage of potentially financially strained customers during the lockdown. It stressed the need to “safeguard online gamblers” during this time. Clearly, the members of the BGC heard the call.
BGC members have reported a 30% drop in online gambling revenue since the UK lockdown began in March. When other verticals are considered, such as land-based betting shops, some operators have seen revenue declines of up to 60%.
Will the lotto follow?
As of yet, National Lottery operator Camelot has not ceased advertising on TV and radio. BGC CEO Michael Dugher wasted no time making a point of this, stating that he hoped the lottery operator Camelot would follow the lead of the BGC. One week ago, a UK lottery player won £58 million in the Euromillions draw. This was widely publicized at the time, and some critics claimed this would tempt more desperate UK citizens to gamble on the lottery.
Surveys show mixed activity
A survey carried out by a gambling advocacy group called Clean Up Gambling showed that the activities of regular gamblers during the lockdown was a mixed bag.
- 25% said their activity has not changed.
- 28% said they were gambling more.
- 11% said they were gambling a lot more.
- Over 40% said they had opened a new account.
45% of respondents said they believed that the government should make it more difficult to gamble online. This comes after the UKGC recently banned credit cards as a payment method for gambling activities in the UK.
However, two-thirds of all gamblers surveyed said they were happy with how things were and would not like to see any change.
Evolution Gaming winning big
One of the biggest winners in recent months is Evolution Gaming, which reported that their profits had almost doubled as interest in live casino gaming grew. Sites like Dublin Bet and Mr Green offer live casino games, which are seeing increased activity from online gamblers.
Will Evolution Gaming report decreased revenue in the second quarter as the lockdown squeezes players financially, or will this live games company benefit from the closure of real casinos across the UK and the release of several new live games like Mega Ball? We’ll have to wait for the Q2 financial reports to find out.
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