30-second summary

• The UK Gambling Commission reveals the fairness rates have declined since 2017
• UKGC’s main objective is trust and fairness for all
• 38% think gambling is related to crime
• 71% think gambling harms the home

In a new survey published today, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has measured how key fairness and trust is in an organization when it comes to securing customers. The results show that for most gambling operators these are on the decline.

Other big results in the survey conducted by Populas show that mobile use in the gambling community is on the rise, while 79% of people think gambling numbers are too high and 71% believe it harms the health of a family.

Trust and fairness for all

The UKGC has released its figures for gambling participation in 2018. Compared with last year’s figures, “fairness” in the lucrative industry has worsened as perceived by the wider public.

The newest figures reported that a mere 30% of those who participated in the study feel that gambling is a fair activity that can be trusted. This figure dropped by 3% from the 2017 figures and is more than an 18% drop from the result in 2008.

For operators, this report will be crucial as the reputation of a gambling company – as well as its best odds – are largely taken into account by its potential customers. Like many other industries, the customer service level of a gambling company is often what brings in both new and repeat custom. As a spokesperson for the UKGC said, it can work in the favour of a company that has competition.

Key statistics

Some key statistics from the report include:

• 38% thought gambling was associated with some type of criminal activity, which has also dropped by 3% from the previous year.
• 44% use mobile phones in online gambling, an increase of 5%.
• 55% of survey participants who had gambled online in the previous four weeks, used a mobile device to do so.
• 55% of participants were betting on horse racing online, a 10% increase on 2017, and a jump from 38% in 2015.
• 79% felt the opportunities for gambling were too high and 71% thought gambling was a dangerous sport and jeopardized a family’s well-being. However, 62% of participants claimed that people still had the right to gamble, if and when they chose to.

The research claims that gambling participation rates have stayed the same and that 46% of those in the study had engaged with at least one form of gambling over the four weeks leading up to the survey.

A UKGC spokesperson stated that the key elements for the regulator are fairness, safety and trust. And that as a whole the UKGC is concentrating on making the gambling industry safer and fairer for all participants.

National Lottery: the nation’s favourite

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, as the National Lottery emerged as the nation’s front runner. It claimed the highest spot for most popular gambling activity in the UK – 28% of the surveyed participants admitted to having purchased a National Lottery ticket. Other lotteries, such as scratchcards, followed the weekly draw in the bid for Britain’s most popular gambling pastime.

There was also a special mention for sports betting, with football and horse racing being the most noted in this field, and highlighted in the survey with 5.7% and 3.8% respectively being played by participants regularly.