The latest Gambling Commission figures make very bleak reading for the off-course betting industry with greyhound racing one of the few bright spots – writes Floyd Amphlett.
The figures, which are actually nine months old (Oct 18-Sep 19) show the early dramatic impact of changes to legislation on FOBT machines.
Betting shop profits fell by 13.8% to £2.81bn, of which £361m was due to reduced revenues from FOBT machines (down 19.8%).
Before taking that in – it is worth remembering that jackpot reduction legislation only became law in April 2019, so effectively, the loss only covers six months.
FOBT machines still contributed 51% of betting shop profits. However, the loss of 1,005 betting shops (12.1%) would clearly have played a part in the decline of ‘over the counter’ betting to £74.7m.
(Among the carnage, it might be argued that a mere 5.5% decline was comparatively good news.)
With all that in mind, greyhound yield during the period was actually up by 7% to £155m, though to put that into perspective, the previous year was the worst on record.
Remote (on-line) betting for all sports combined showed a £87.2m (4.3%) increase to £2.1bn, though interestingly, betting on sports is still way short of on-line casino betting (£3.19bn – up 3.9%).
Of the on-line betting, virtually every sport showed significant increases though the numbers are still small. Greyhounds were up 17.2% though the figure was still only £9.7m (compared to £155m in the shops).
Football accounts for 46.7% of on-line betting, horses for 27.3% and dogs just 3.1% – behind tennis 5.9%!. Virtual – all sports combined – is 3.5%.
One final stat: On-line accounts for roughly 43% of all sports betting, but 75% of all casino betting.
(Editorial – the decline of retail betting seems to be accelerating, and unless greyhound racing can gain a stronger footing in the off-line market, it could be dragged down alongside the very institutions that many blamed for the decline of greyhound tracks. On the plus side, as on-line casinos are demonstrating, there remains a huge wealth of opportunities on the internet).
