Gambling policy in Great Britain is facing renewed scrutiny as new consumer research raises questions about how effectively players understand important information, while a House of Lords committee presses for sweeping advertising restrictions. The developments come as industry figures show regulated gambling gross gambling yield reached £17.5 billion in the 12 months to March 2026.
The Gambling Commission has placed greater attention on informed decision-making as part of its work on fair and open gambling. Its Corporate Strategy 2024 to 2027 includes a commitment to improve understanding of issues that could affect this licensing objective. The regulator expects licensed products and services to operate fairly, while consumers should receive information that allows them to make informed gambling decisions.
Research conducted by the Behavioural Insights Team examined how consumers themselves interpret the idea of “informed choice.” The study formed part of the Commission’s Consumer Voice programme and drew on 53 evidence sources, three deliberative focus groups and four in-depth interviews involving people considered at higher risk of gambling harm.
Participants frequently distinguished between operators making information available and consumers actually understanding it. Important details could prove difficult to locate or appear at points when they offered limited practical value. Faster gambling sessions could also make available information less noticeable, whether consumers gambled online or at land-based venues.
Researchers found differences in what consumers may need depending on their familiarity with gambling. Participants suggested that operators often approach customers as a single group even though inexperienced players may require different information from people already familiar with particular products.
Consumer Research Questions How Information Is Presented
Understanding odds and probabilities emerged as another issue. Participants felt that operators can assume a level of knowledge that some customers do not possess, creating difficulties when people attempt to understand betting products or game mechanics.
The research also identified concerns about how gambling companies approach consumer protection. Some participants felt operators put greater emphasis on administrative transparency and meeting formal requirements than on proactive steps for customers facing greater risk.
Responsibility for gambling decisions also shifted depending on the stage of the consumer journey. Before gambling began, participants generally accepted greater personal responsibility when relevant information was accessible and understandable. During faster gambling sessions, respondents showed more support for operators taking an active role.
Some participants also felt that responsibility after gambling could involve organisations beyond operators, including banks that may have a wider view of spending activity across different gambling platforms.
Personalisation received significant attention. Generic safer gambling messages were often regarded as easy to ignore, while more individualised interventions attracted stronger support. Data use created concerns at the same time. Some respondents questioned operators’ motives because behavioural information used to identify potential risks can also support targeted marketing, resulting in what the research described as “open distrust.”
Views differed by product. Sports bettors showed greater resistance to forced interruptions, while casino customers were generally more receptive to intervention during gambling. Participants who used land-based venues also reported lower visibility of formal information and support.
The study proposed treating informed choice as an ongoing ability to understand relevant information and act on it throughout the gambling journey. Under that approach, information about rules, odds, mechanics, costs and risks would receive prominence comparable with promotional material, while communication could change according to consumer experience and circumstances.
Lords Committee Seeks Extensive Advertising Restrictions
Consumer information is being examined alongside a wider debate over gambling promotion. The House of Lords Liaison Committee has recommended a comprehensive advertising ban in its follow-up Gambling Harm – Time for Action report.
The committee questioned whether the government can simultaneously pursue lower gambling harm and growth in the gambling sector. It stated: “We consider that the government’s dual objectives of reducing gambling harm, as stated in the 2024 election manifesto, and facilitating the growth of the gambling sector… represent a fundamental tension within the government’s approach.”
It added: “The government has not provided convincing evidence that it is able to pursue both objectives effectively and must therefore abandon its objective to encourage the growth of the gambling industry.”
The committee said existing evidence strongly links current advertising levels with demand and participation. It also criticised previous governments’ response to the rapid expansion of digital advertising and content marketing.
Its recommendations extend into sports sponsorship. The committee called for gambling sponsorship to disappear from shirts, shorts and training kits, while also covering advertising in or near sports grounds and venues. It proposed a transition lasting several years so clubs could adjust to the loss of sponsorship revenue.
Television and on-demand coverage of sporting events would also face extensive restrictions under the recommendations. The committee supported retaining an exemption for on-course advertising at horse racing and greyhound racing events.
The report also examined claims that tighter controls could shift customers toward unlicensed gambling. It accepted that illegal operators pose a significant consumer-protection threat while questioning whether restrictions on licensed advertising would cause substantial migration.
“It appears plausible that unlicensed operators and affiliates which send direct marketing communications to customers illegally may be more easily identifiable as unlicensed operators, and that a significant reduction in direct marketing that promotes gambling could contribute to an overall reduction in demand for gambling products,” the committee said.
On the economic effects, the committee acknowledged that measures designed to reduce gambling participation would probably hurt the sector financially.
“Although economic disbenefits for the gambling industry may be partially offset by significant reduction in its current marketing budget, given that such restrictions would ultimately aim to reduce overall participation in gambling and consequent gambling harm, we consider it highly likely that they would have a negative net economic impact on the sector,” the report stated.
“However, we consider that this is a necessary policy choice in order to tackle the serious public health issue of gambling harms and meaningfully advance the government’s manifesto commitment.”
The committee also said lower gambling participation would not automatically mean lower overall government tax receipts if consumer spending moved to other sectors. It called for further assessment of lottery advertising because it did not take evidence on whether the proposed restrictions should extend to lotteries.
Online Casino Revenue Drives Overall Market Growth
The policy discussion comes as the latest regulated market figures show continued growth in overall gambling GGY. Total UK GGY rose 4.4% year-on-year to £17.5 billion during the 12 months ending March 2026.
Remote casino, betting and bingo generated £8.3 billion, representing a 6.9% increase. Land-based gambling produced £4.9 billion, up 1.1%, while lotteries accounted for £4.3 billion.
Online casino activity led remote growth. Casino GGY climbed 14.8% to £5.7 billion, supported by a 15% increase in slots GGY to £4.8 billion. Remote betting moved in the opposite direction, falling 6.6% to £2.45 billion, while remote bingo GGY declined 13.8% to £147.8 million.
New remote account registrations also decreased by 3% to 32.4 million. At the end of the final quarter, operators recorded 25.7 million active accounts, while funds held in remote gambling accounts had declined 13.9% from the previous year.
Land-based performance varied across sectors. Arcade GGY increased 10.7% to £800.1 million, including £761.4 million from adult gaming centres. Bingo generated £703.8 million after an 8.2% rise.
Casino GGY increased 0.4% to £934 million. Retail betting remained the largest land-based category at £2.42 billion despite a 3.3% decline. Licensed betting shop numbers dropped 3.6% to 5,617, marking the 12th consecutive reporting period with fewer shops.
National Lottery sales rose 0.9% to £7.9 billion, while large society lottery GGY increased 5.7% to £1.2 billion. The National Lottery generated £1.7 billion for good causes, up 2.8%.
Across the regulated industry, licensed operator numbers declined 1.1% to 2,154, while licensed activities increased 0.4% to 3,097.
Ben Haden, director of research and policy at the Gambling Commission, cautioned against attributing the changes to a single cause.
“The market shifts that we see in industry data trends, and this year is no different, are complex and will be down to a mix of factors that need more than one source to unpick,” said Haden.
The latest consumer research, advertising proposals and industry figures place several aspects of the British gambling market under examination at the same time. Regulators are considering how information reaches consumers and how protection measures function during gambling, while lawmakers are debating significantly tighter promotional restrictions against the backdrop of continuing growth in online casino revenue.
Source:
Consumers’ views on informed choice in gambling, gamblingcommission.gov.uk, September 15, 2026
Your feedback
Please enter your comment.
Your comment is added.
