UKGC – Report on Covid-19 and its impact on gambling
Lockdown period does not appear to have attracted many new consumers
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect everyone across Great Britain. The lockdown has also brought significant consumer behavioural change and major impacts on the gambling industry, states the UK Gambling Commission in its Covid-19 Report June 2020 Update, with the following salient points.
“Our responsibility is to protect consumers and we are focused on understanding how the risks posed to them are changing. To help understand these risks and trends, and to inform public knowledge, we are collecting additional data from operators and consumer research – allowing us to build a clearer picture.”
- General consumer trends
When assessing the gambling market, we should look to wider consumer trends for important context, in terms of how they feel, the money in their pocket and how they are spending our time.
Research by Savanta reports that 23% of the population feel their mental health in general has been negatively affected. There has also been a significant financial impact, with the same research noting that 39% of people have seen their disposable income decrease.
Naturally, while spending most of our time in the home, we have also seen changes in the way people engage with news and entertainment. This is particularly so among people who gamble.
According to YouGov data up to 7 May, those who had gambled in the past four weeks were more likely than the national average to have: Spent more money online on entertainment (17% of gamblers compared to 12% of all adults); Watched TV more (56% of gamblers compared to 43% of all adults); Consumed more on-demand entertainment (50% of gamblers compared to 39% of all adults)
- Gambling Market Impacts
On 20 March, all retail gambling venues closed. This meant that activities which normally generate 50% of the overall market (excluding lotteries) stopped. It has still been possible to purchase National Lottery tickets in a retail environment, however, there has been an impact from a small decrease in the availability of retail outlets and the decline in consumer shopping journeys.
Operator data collected by the Commission comparing March 2020 with March 2019 provided an initial insight into the changing shape and size of the market. April data now provides a clearer picture
a. Overall, fewer consumers are gambling
The lockdown period does not appear to have attracted many new consumers to gambling. According to YouGov research from 16-17 April, only 0.2% of all adults surveyed stated that they had started gambling for the first time during the last four weeks. This compares with 2% of adults who had stopped gambling altogether during this period.
Operator data on overall active player accounts indicates a 5% decrease between March and April 2020, driven substantially by real event betting (active players down 55%), and reflecting the lack of top-quality sport during April. Although fewer consumers are taking part in sports betting, the data indicates that the participation has not fallen as drastically as anticipated at the beginning of the crisis.
This is reflected in the four waves of the YouGov survey conducted from 16 April to 7 May. Past-four-week gambling participation remained relatively stable, with the exception of significant decreases in participation in National Lottery draws and sports betting, and a significant increase in those playing National Lottery online instant win games.
National Lottery sales have held up reasonably. Despite an initial fall, sales have recovered to a level slightly below normal.
b. Some people, who are gambling already, are trying new products
Our analysis of year on year data for the number of activities undertaken by online gambling consumers indicates that, over the last year, there has been a shift towards a larger number of online activities. During April 2019, 26% of consumers appeared to engage in more than one online activity, a figure which rose to 42% during April 2020. We know from previous studies that engagement across a larger number of activities can correlate to higher levels of moderate-risk and problem gambling recognising that the data does not include offline activities which have not been available during the lockdown period.
The lockdown period has also shown an increase in range of activities for some; the YouGov research shows that around a third of past four-week gamblers say they have tried one or more gambling activities for the first time during lockdown. This figure rises to over half (54%) of engaged gamblers – meaning those who have participated in three or more gambling activities in the last four weeks – with 18% of this group having tried betting on virtual races or sports and a similar proportion trying out online bingo for the first time during the last four weeks. The main new activity is National Lottery draw-based games, with one in five recent gamblers claiming to have played National Lottery draws for the first time in the last four weeks.
Online operator data shows that certain products are seeing active player increases compared to March 2020 (some from low comparative bases of players) or are broadly level following growth seen year on year in March. These are generally those with a faster play cycle.
This shift is against the backdrop of relatively stable advertising awareness, where the YouGov research shows that 34% of adults recalled seeing marketing for online bingo, casino or slots games in the last four weeks. This is comparable with 39% in our pre-lockdown research.
c. Overall gamblers claim to be playing products at the same rate or less, but a majority of those who have participated in 3 or more gambling activities in the last four weeks claim to be spending more time or money on one or more activities
This is reflected in growth in the average number of bets per customer on some products. The volume of activity on certain products appears to be still be growing. We have seen a slight shift compared to our last report, for both slots and casino products, which are the largest constituent parts of online gaming.
While active player numbers are growing, the number of bets placed is now growing at a faster rate. This indicates both an overall growth in the product, and an increase in the average number of bets per customer.
Percentage of recent gamblers who have increased the time and/or money they have spent on one or more gambling activities, including the National Lottery.
The profile is different for engaged gamblers. More than six in ten (62%) have increased either the amount of time or money they have spent on at least one gambling activity, including National Lottery products, noting that this does not necessarily mean that the time or money they have spent overall on all gambling has increased.
d. We are also seeing an increase in the number of sessions over an hour.
Between March and April 2020, the average session length reported by operators has not changed. Within that, the number of sessions which lasted more than one hour increased to 2,274,521. This means that the proportion of sessions lasting more than one hour remains at around one in eight.
