Much of the focus of the government’s reimagined vision for the UK gambling industry has focused specifically on the online sector.
Many have felt that land-based operators – be it casinos, bingo halls and arcades – have been overlooked in the publishing of the government’s White Paper, which calls for regulatory reforms including customer affordability checks and measures to slow the pace of online slot games.
But now the UK’s gambling minister, Stuart Andrew, has confirmed a range of plans that are designed to ‘liberalise’ the land-based sector; which could be crucial at a time when it continues to lose ground against online gaming.
Land Ahoy
The MP for Pudsey has admitted that land-based gambling has been overlooked at a time when much of the focus has been given to the online sector, which ministers believe is not appropriately regulated – the last Gambling Act review came back in 2005, a year in which more than 16 million people every month were still visiting MySpace.
Their White Paper has come up with a raft of potential regulatory changes that could be implemented in the year 2025, however the land-based sector was largely forgotten in its pages.
It’s left Andrew pondering the ‘outdated and overly restrictive regulations’ that continue to dog the industry, which still managed to yield more than £4.5 billion in revenue for the 2022/23 financial year.
And so he and his fellow ministers have got their heads together and come up with a range of ‘liberalisation’ measures that they believe will super-charge the sector, which continues to provide entertainment to players across the UK.
The first move will be to remove a ban that prevented players from using their debit cards on gaming machines like slots and arcades. This is in response to an uptick in the number of gamers that are eschewing cash payments for alternative methods, which is in-line with the retail sector.
However, Andrew was quick to stress that appropriate player protections will be in place to prevent the most vulnerable from spending too much, too quickly.
The government also plans to increase the limits on the number of gaming machines that a land-based operator can have on their floor.
Those casinos governed by the 1968 Gambling Act will be allowed to increase their number of machines beyond 20, if they are classed as ‘small’ in size, while larger casinos will be able to add up to 80 machines – based on a pro rata’d proportion of their overall size.
“Together, we believe these measures will support the land-based gambling sector and modernise the current outdated restrictions, as well as helping to protect young people and supporting licensing authorities,” read a statement from the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
As part of the White Paper, the UK Gambling Commission will enforce new rules regarding age verification, with all licensed operators of any size now asked to proactively check the I.D. of anyone that appears to be under the age of 25 – as opposed to 21 under the old rules.
Eyes Down
Bingo halls and arcades will also benefit from the government’s plot to boost land-based gambling.
Previously, there was an 80/20 rule that meant that operators could have only 20% of their gaming floors taken up by Category B machines, which have a maximum stake of £2. The other 80% had to be Category C and D machines, which instead have a maximum wager amount of 20p.
However, under the government’s revised rules, that ratio will be downgraded to 2:1, meaning that bingo halls and arcades can increase the number of Category B machines on their premises up to around 33% of their total capacity – that should boost revenue accordingly.
This change will allow operators to ‘adequately meet consumer demand, while still providing a balanced product offer to customers’, according to ministers.
“The allowances will allows operators greater commercial flexibility, avoid the situation where machines with low customer demand must be provided, maintained and kept switched on, and provides customers with a genuine choice of higher and lower stake machines,” the government reports.
All of which comes in the week that UK Gambling Commission chief Andrew Rhodes gave a keynote speech at the Bingo Association AGM.
He confirmed that the government’s DCMS is contemplating the introduction of a statutory levy that all gambling operators would pay into, commenting:
“When government sets out the timetable for the introduction of the levy, everyone will need to pull together to get it established.
“It will be important to provide certainty for the people up and down the country who rely on those services as well as for the organisations and charities that provide them.”