A report commissioned by the BGC finds that gambling in Britain contributed ￡7.7bn to the economy in 2019

According to an Ernest & Young (EY) report commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the gambling industry contributed ￡7.7bn to the economy in 2019. The report was made in bid to uncover the extent to which COVID-19 pandemic impacted the industry.

The report finds that the gaming verticals of betting shops, casinos and iGaming contributed it ￡7.7bn ($10.6bn) in gross value added (GVA) for the UK in 2019. In addition, the gaming industry?supported?119,000 jobs and added ￡4.5bn in taxes.

Diving specifically into the employment side of the industry, EY reported BGC members employed 61,000 staff directly in 2019. Furthermore, the members created an additional 44,000 indirect supply?chain job opportunities.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher explained in a press release the importance of such figures to show the importance of the sector after?a turbulent 2020:

At a time of economic fears and huge pressures on public finances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the huge contribution betting and gaming makes to UK plc could not be more important,

As the standards body representing the regulated industry, the BGC fully supports the government’s Gambling Review plus the need for continued higher safer gambling standards and more change to regulation. However, it is vital that the government gets those changes right and does nothing to put at risk the future jobs and tax take of a growing, world-leading British industry.

The report comes during the ongoing Government review of the 2005 Gambling Act, with the call for evidence to conclude at the end of March 2021.

Source: iGaming Business

SiGMA Roadshow – Next stop Las Vegas:

After our successful roadshow in Ukraine -The SiGMA Roadshow’s next stop is Las Vegas

Our?Virtual Roadshow?reflects SiGMA’s global events opening in 5 major regions over the next few years, specifically Europe, the CIS region, Asia, the Americas and Africa. Our previous virtual event, held in Ukraine, welcomed over 2,500 delegate registrations and over 1,500 conference views. There were also over 75 exhibitors and the number of total booth entries hit close to a 6k mark. Join us for our next Virtual Roadshow to learn more about the US gaming market!