Online casino operators in the UK will be forced to cut betting stakes to about £2, while the Premier League clubs will have to remove gambling companies as sponsors from their shirts under the latest Government restrictions that are set to be announced in June.
Next month, Ministers are expected to publish the results of their review of the country’s gambling legislation following months of consideration that have been prompted by concerns that the UK gambling laws have not been serving their purposes after online gambling’s rapid increase in popularity.
As Casino Guardian previously reported, the UK Government is expected to set maximum betting stakes between £2 and £5 for online slots machine players. Furthermore, stricter affordability checks are likely to be implemented so that customers prove they can afford potential losses. The new restrictions on the gambling sector are set to be unveiled as part of the Government’s efforts to protect local players both off- and online, because, at present, no limits apply to online stakes.
In addition, UK lawmakers are also considering the implementation of affordability checks for various forms of online betting in case the report shows local people generate extremely large losses.
Currently, the UK remains one of the largest gambling markets on a global scale, with profits of £14.2 billion in total generated in 2020. According to estimates provided by Public Health England (PHE), gambling addiction costs the country about £1.27 billion every year.
Stricter Regulatory Rules Expected to Be Unveiled as UK Government’s Gambling Legislation Review
The UK Legislature remains hopeful that it will be able to reach an agreement with the English Premier League football clubs over the next couple of weeks that will see gambling sponsors removed from the club’s shirts. Currently, almost half of the EPL clubs have a gambling operator as a sponsor. If such an agreement is not reached, the Government could decide to officially ban gambling companies from becoming the main shirt sponsors of local football clubs, with Championship teams and lower-division clubs could be exempt from the ban.
For years now, gambling operators have been blamed for turning a blind eye to the increasing number of gambling-related deaths across the country. According to anti-gambling campaigners, the lack of stricter control left Government and regulatory officials unable to tackle the increase of problem gambling rates and pretty much provided companies with the opportunity to do whatever they want, with little to no concern for British people’s lives.
Campaigners have been accusing gambling companies of taking advantage of gambling addicts by providing them with VIP status and offering them various incentives, such as free bets and special bonuses, to encourage them to continue gambling with them. The aggressive advertising on TV and social media channels have also been found extremely concerning by anti-gambling advocates, who believe that the increased presence of gambling companies’ adverts normalises betting for both children and adults and could have a detrimental impact on their lives.
A study held by PHE in September 2021 found that more than 400 suicides were associated with gambling in England on an annual basis. In 2019, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published the results of GambleAware-held research stating that 5% of problem gamblers in the country had tried to take their own lives in 2018.
- Author
Daniel Williams
