Recent figures show a huge increase in the UK online gaming market. Between 2008 and 2012 there has been an 80% increase in revenues. In 2008 figures show the industry was worth £1.27 billion and in 2012 reached an impressive £2 billion. The largest share of the UK online gambling market was held by sports betting giant William Hill. Hill currently holds 15% of the market. Other online gaming groups such as Ladbrokes, Betfair, Bet365 and the Irish sportsbook, Paddy Power have an 11% market share each.
William Hill also dominates search volume on Google, the most popular search engine. William Hill accounts for 19.39% of all gaming searches followed by Paddy Power (10.86%) and Ladbrokes (10.70%). Bet365 has a 9.69% search volume share. The largest sector of the British online gaming market is sports betting and makes up 44% of the total volume in the industry. Thanks to sophisticated software and mobile applications sports betting has grown by 102% since 2008. Experts estimated that the total sports betting sector is worth £1 billion annually.
Online casinos are the second largest sector of the UK internet gaming market. Online casinos have a 23% market share and have grown 79% since 2008. Bingo, which has a 17% market share grew by an astounding 155% since 2008. Thanks to new mobile applications the online bingo sector is set for even more growth and is the fastest growing sector of the UK’s online gaming industry. Just a decade ago there were only 20 bingo sites online and today there are almost 400. Most target the UK audience since Britain has the most lively online bingo market in the world. Over three million people in the UK play online bingo regularly.
While the UK online gaming industry celebrates rapid growth some experts say that Britain’s tax policies are costing the country money. Experts say that ill-advised taxation is costing the country billions of pounds annually. Some estimates say the government has lost £2.1 billion in revenues since it set the 15% tax rate that sent many operators offshore. Estimates say that 2,500 gaming operators have located offshore since the tax regime was put in place. In some White List licensing jurisdictions operators only pay a 2% or 3% tax rate. Recent news reports say the government is trying to lure operators back to the UK with lower taxes. The Minister for Sport and Tourism in the UK, Hugh Robertson, stated “The proposals will ensure that British consumers enjoy consistent standards of protection, regardless of where a gambling business is based.”
