|
|
 |
|
Viewing report
|
|
|
|
Betting & Gaming Market Report 2010
Key Note Publications Ltd, Oct 2010, Pages: 114
The UK betting and gaming industry has a substantial turnover, but net expenditure on games of chance, including The National Lottery, decreased by 12.2% in 2009, as the industry — which usually rides out a recession well — suffered lower footfall and smaller wagers in betting shops, as consumers struggled in the longest and deepest recession in decades. However, while land-based operators have faced difficult trading conditions, online gaming continues to gain share, although online gambling operators based in the UK face stiff competition from European rivals because of the British Government's tax policy for gambling. A continuing exodus of sports-betting firms from the UK to overseas locations, to benefit from tax advantages, will leave the UK's online gambling market — which is the largest legal betting market in the world — beyond the scope of both the Gambling Commission and HM Treasury, with the latter losing millions of pounds of potential revenue.
The Chief Executive of William Hill has been among those attacking the Government's tax and regulatory policies, as the bookmaker announced, in July 2010, the closure of its British telephone-betting operations, in favour of operating the service from Gibraltar. Ladbrokes completed such a move in 2009, in order to escape the UK's punitive tax regime, but both moves have been at the expense of hundreds of British jobs. Both companies had previously moved their online operations. Meanwhile, one sector that has actually seen an improvement in its tax liability has been that of bingo. The `soft' gambling pursuit had been hit by a shock increase in bingo duty, from 15% to 22%, in 2009, so welcomed the news that the duty would be reduced to 20% with effect from April 2010.
Other recent corporate activity has included the sale of Camelot, the operator of The National Lottery, to the Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in July 2010, a restructuring of Gala Coral in 2009/2010 and 888.com's acquisition of Wink Bingo in December 2009. The merger between PartyGaming and Bwin in 2010 creates the world's largest online gaming company. Meanwhile, Betfair, the leading global betting-exchange operator, is to consider a stock-market flotation after summer 2010, in a listing that could value the group at £1.5bn. The company had pulled out of a flotation plan in 2005, but there has been renewed speculation of a flotation since autumn 2009. Plans to sell The Tote have also been revived by the 2010 Budget, although industry experts expect it to be worth around half its original valuation.
There is no denying that the UK must undergo a period of austerity. Faced with crippling debts, huge cuts in public spending and the loss of thousands of jobs are inevitable. The rise in VAT has contributed to falls in disposable income, thereby reducing consumer spending. Along with the punitive tax regime, the smoking ban and a forthcoming increase in the minimum wage, the UK betting and gaming industry continues to face challenging conditions.
Product samples
A sample for this product is available. Please Login/Register to download this sample.
|
|
|
|
