What you need to know
The UK casino market is benefitting from a rising London segment and improving spend per head more widely, but has become increasingly reliant on its new breed of large venues for admissions growth.
In bingo, investment in product and facilities has not only helped the sector return to value growth but has also slowed its long-term volume decline to the point at which increasing admission numbers could soon become a realistic ambition once more.
New venue formats could be the biggest influence on the future shape of both markets, with resort casinos, the bingo ‘club-pub’ and a new high street ‘convenience bingo’ brand all holding strong potential to attract a bigger and more diverse crowd.
Covered in this Report
This Report focuses on casinos and licensed bingo clubs.
Casinos are defined as clubs that are licensed by the Gambling Commission for the purposes of gambling, and which generally incorporate games such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat and casino poker. Gambling is defined by the Gambling Commission as being an “activity in which the only product that changes hands is money”.
Bingo clubs are defined as clubs that are licensed by the Gambling Commission for the purposes of playing cash bingo. Other ways of playing bingo (usually ‘prize bingo’ for prizes or lower cash returns) are also discussed, although they do not form part of the report’s core focus.
Traditionally, bingo has also been played in licensed social clubs, working men’s clubs and political clubs in addition to the licensed bingo clubs already mentioned.
These venues are considered outside the scope of this Report, as are online casinos and bingo games, although these may all be referenced for purposes of context where appropriate.
The term ‘drop’ as used in this Report, refers to money exchanged for chips at casinos. Spend per head, as detailed in this Report, relates to net expenditure rather than the ‘drop’ or money consumers have staked.
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