Statistics and research release
Gambling business data on gambling during coronavirus (COVID-19) March 2022 (published May 2022)
A collection of data provided by gambling businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
Summary
Details
The full dataset from the earlier months of the pandemic is available in the Excel document.
This data should not be compared with data from industry statistics1.
Online operator data
The following data tables cover online gambling activity2.
Table 1: Total number of active players per vertical
Data from the biggest operators, covering approximately 80% of the online gambling market showing the number of active players on each vertical.
Note: a player may be active in more than one product, so these columns must not be summarised to give an overall total number of players.
| October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | Change from Q3 to Q4 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slots | 3,219,525 | 3,190,757 | 3,423,140 | 3,414,683 | 3,258,932 | 3,617,748 | 5% |
| Other gaming (including casino) | 2,263,187 | 2,211,877 | 2,401,391 | 2,394,242 | 1,964,637 | 2,139,547 | -5% |
| Betting (Real event) | 4,923,936 | 4,699,434 | 4,881,497 | 4,747,670 | 4,982,125 | 6,383,180 | 11% |
| Betting (Virtual) | 251,537 | 230,137 | 244,864 | 268,375 | 274,853 | 232,750 | 7% |
| Poker | 262,251 | 248,470 | 273,112 | 277,591 | 235,188 | 238,449 | -4% |
Table 2: Total number of bets placed per vertical
Data from the biggest operators, covering approximately 80% of the online gambling market showing the number of bets placed on each vertical.
| October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | Change from Q3 to Q4 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slots | 6,120,476,686 | 5,672,738,710 | 6,412,977,218 | 5,993,785,262 | 5,559,170,146 | 6,335,802,951 | -2% |
| Other gaming (including casino) | 335,585,894 | 300,142,049 | 324,600,766 | 316,338,203 | 282,165,475 | 319,148,775 | -4% |
| Betting (Real event) | 275,480,062 | 249,659,453 | 259,128,098 | 247,589,560 | 248,008,812 | 323,198,982 | 4% |
| Betting (Virtual) | 13,627,726 | 12,846,306 | 14,436,745 | 13,063,045 | 11,671,969 | 12,881,152 | -8% |
| Poker | 80,664,453 | 79,780,506 | 84,190,432 | 93,285,160 | 77,028,057 | 76,253,821 | -1% |
Table 3: Slots session length
Data from the biggest operators, covering approximately 80% of the online gambling market showing average slots session length in minutes and the number of sessions that lasted an hour or longer.
| October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | Change from Q3 to Q4 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average session length (minutes) | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| Sessions >1hr | 2,762,397 | 2,541,310 | 2,836,813 | 2,686,755 | 2,501,511 | 2,775,805 | -2% |
| Total number of sessions | 37,187,666 | 35,499,030 | 41,527,216 | 38,794,997 | 36,778,143 | 41,809,091 | 3% |
Table 4: Gross Gambling Yield3
| October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | Change from Q3 to Q4 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slots | £189,963,814 | £177,900,355 | £200,186,689 | £179,603,719 | £168,278,922 | £192,869,313 | -5% |
| Other gaming (including casino) | £58,639,978 | £51,959,821 | £62,707,725 | £55,887,602 | £48,529,497 | £54,246,227 | -8% |
| Betting (Real event) | £94,197,386 | £224,459,234 | £141,985,160 | £212,473,664 | £176,200,047 | £104,557,535 | 7% |
| Betting (Virtual) | £5,819,079 | £5,311,675 | £6,125,645 | £4,779,777 | £4,099,134 | £3,537,267 | -28% |
| Betting (eSports) | £1,061,177 | £780,976 | £1,531,662 | £1,258,557 | £784,399 | £56,001 | -38% |
| Poker | £6,563,409 | £6,348,420 | £6,962,644 | £7,244,999 | £5,914,220 | £6,203,489 | -3% |
| Other | £1,177,844 | £1,023,542 | £996,520 | £1,119,522 | £1,194,192 | £1,428,130 | 17% |
Licensed betting operator data
Please be mindful of the minor restrictions that were in place in Q3 as a result of the Omicron variant.
Table 5: Number of bets/spins
Data from the biggest operators, covering approximately 85% of the retail betting market showing the number of bets/slips across available products.
| October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | Change from Q3 to Q4 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Over the counter | 53,071,002 | 47,230,768 | 45,680,029 | 47,744,066 | 44,438,338 | 52,059,741 | -1% |
| SSBT | 10,035,819 | 9,168,759 | 8,937,954 | 9,244,362 | 9,358,687 | 9,910,746 | 1% |
| Machines | 1,094,992,385 | 1,052,680,332 | 996,137,836 | 983,268,106 | 966,404,829 | 1,113,423,655 | -3% |
Table 6: GGY
Data from the biggest operators, covering approximately 85% of the retail betting market showing GGY across available products.
| October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | Change from Q3 to Q4 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Over the counter | £61,129,368 | £54,679,516 | £50,613,897 | 61,667,999 | 57,800,606 | 56,692,868 | 6% |
| SSBT | £18,481,765 | £37,635,859 | £26,694,523 | £37,667,170 | £32,459,517 | £27,838,958 | 18% |
| Machines | £99,266,591 | £94,779,707 | £90,080,535 | £89,022,863 | £87,566,245 | £101,101,948 | -2% |
Table 7: Machine sessions
Data from the biggest operators, covering approximately 85% of the retail betting market showing machines data.
| October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | Change from Q3 to Q4 2021/22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of sessions | 8,551,222 | 8,174,543 | 7,807,418 | 7,610,294 | 7,465,792 | 8,636,242 | -3% |
| Number of sessions >1hr | 242,120 | 235,022 | 221,712 | 220,001 | 210,946 | 239,685 | -4% |
Notes
1This data may include free bets and bonuses.
2Changes in data could be due to a variety of factors.
3This should not be directly compared to GGY published in our Industry Statistics because this data is taken from a sample of approximately 80% of the online market.