Publication protocol
- Format
- Analysis
- Evidence pack
- 3 source records
- Linked records
- 1
- Revision
The UK Gambling Commission's £17.5 billion industry GGY, £13.2 billion non-lottery GGY and £8.3 billion remote-sector GGY for April 2025–March 2026 are not three competing estimates of the same thing. They are nested figures with different scopes. The most useful comparison is one that names the measure, territory, period, coverage, unit and publication series before it calculates a share or trend.
This research note accompanies the fixed BETTIMES FY 2025–26 data extract and its downloadable CSV. It is written for journalists, analysts and iGaming teams. All underlying sector figures come from the UK Gambling Commission's annual Industry Statistics, published 17 September 2026. The comparisons below are editorial interpretations, not new regulator statistics.
The first test: are the numbers from the same universe?
The regulator's report covers licensed operators' GGY from gambling customers in Great Britain. Its published total including all reported lotteries is £17.5 billion. The total excluding all reported lotteries is £13.2 billion. The difference is a change in coverage, not a second stream of revenue to add on top. The regulator's September 2026 announcement states the same distinction.
Within the non-lottery universe, the annual report gives £8.3 billion for remote casino, betting and bingo and £4.9 billion for land-based arcades, betting, bingo and casino. Those rounded display values add to £13.2 billion. This is a useful channel comparison, but a chart should still state that the source rounded both figures. It should not manufacture a tenth-of-a-percent market share from displayed billion-pound values and imply workbook-level precision.
| Claim being tested | Comparable? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Remote £8.3bn versus land-based £4.9bn | Yes, with scope stated | Same period and non-lottery sector split, both rounded |
| Online casino £5.7bn plus slots £4.8bn | No | Slots are inside online casino |
| All-industry £17.5bn versus non-lottery £13.2bn | Yes, as scope contrast | One includes lotteries and one excludes them |
| GGY versus customer deposits | No | Different measures and event timing |
| Industry Statistics versus operator-level quarterly series | Not without reconciliation | Coverage and reporting definitions differ |
Remote does not mean all gambling is online
The £8.3 billion remote group contains online casino, remote betting and remote bingo. The report lists £5.7 billion in online-casino GGY, including £4.8 billion from slots, £2.4 billion in remote betting and £147.8 million in remote bingo. These are differently rounded components of the remote total. Their printed sum is not a validation test for the unrounded source file.
The land-based group includes non-remote betting, casino, bingo and arcades. Some of those sectors contain gaming-machine revenue, so “land-based” does not mean “cash only” or “without software”. Conversely, remote betting is a betting category, not a catch-all for every digitally initiated transaction. The iGaming value-chain analysis helps separate product, channel and supplier infrastructure.
GGY is not handle, profit or NGR
The Commission's definitions page defines Gross Gambling Yield by reference to stakes and directly related receipts less prizes or winnings, with specified treatment of free bets and bonuses. Betting turnover or “handle” is the amount wagered before winnings are deducted; it cannot be compared directly with GGY as if both were revenue. Company profit is further downstream after operating and other costs. “NGR” can be a commercial metric with deductions and definitions that vary by company.
The BETTIMES GGR/GGY/NGR guide explains these definitions, and the sportsbook hold guide explains why yield divided by stakes is a different calculated metric. The 11-row CSV does not include handle, so it cannot produce a defensible hold rate. If another source reports stakes, first check that its product scope, period and source population match.
Annual and quarterly series require a source check
The annual Industry Statistics include historic data, but the Commission says regulatory returns changed in July 2024: operators' reporting periods were harmonised and questions were removed. That is a warning against treating every historical break as an underlying market change. The Commission also publishes quarterly industry statistics and other operator data. A common date label is not enough to prove that two series use the same operators, fields and adjustments.
For a multi-year chart, work from the official annual workbook linked on the report page, record the sheet and measure used, and read the methodology at any reporting change. For a quarterly chart, remain within the relevant quarterly series unless the Commission documents a bridge. The BETTIMES CSV deliberately contains one annual period and values as published on the public HTML report, so it cannot answer a trend question by itself.
A reusable comparison checklist
Before making a headline or chart, write six fields next to each candidate number:
- Metric: GGY, stakes/turnover, deposits, lottery sales, profit or another defined measure.
- Population: licensed GB customers, a named operator set or a survey sample.
- Product and channel: casino, betting, bingo, lottery; remote or non-remote.
- Period: the same financial year or quarter, with the same start and end dates.
- Precision: rounded billions, one-decimal millions or unrounded workbook values.
- Source series: annual Industry Statistics, quarterly statistics, regulatory return extract or another publication.
If any of these differs, the comparison may still be informative, but it needs an explicit caveat and often cannot support a direct growth rate. Link the underlying row and source in the chart caption. The GB market profile provides regulatory context; it should not be substituted for the statistical method note.
Frequently asked questions
Can £8.3 billion and £4.9 billion be compared as online versus offline?
They can be compared as the report's remote casino, betting and bingo versus land-based arcades, betting, bingo and casino GGY for the same financial year. “Online versus offline” is a shorthand that hides those product definitions. The displayed figures are rounded and exclude reported lotteries.
Is the £4.8 billion slots number additional revenue?
No. It is the part of £5.7 billion online-casino GGY attributed to slots in the regulator's report. A total formed by adding online slots to online casino would double-count slots. Use the slots figure to discuss product mix inside casino, not to enlarge the remote-sector total.
Can I use the 4.4% growth headline as operator profit growth?
No. The regulator reports a 4.4% year-on-year rise in all-industry GGY, including reported lotteries. It does not describe the change in any operator's net earnings or profit. Costs, taxes, supplier fees and company-level accounting are outside that headline measure.
Does the CSV settle a multi-year trend?
No. It is a one-year extract of rounded HTML headline figures. A trend requires the historical official workbook, consistent measure selection and attention to the July 2024 reporting changes. The fixed CSV is intended for transparent citation of the FY 2025–26 snapshot, not time-series modelling.
Bottom line
The strongest UK gambling revenue comparison is often narrower than the most attractive headline. State what GGY covers, keep lotteries and subcategories in their correct hierarchy, and use the official workbook for precision or history. That discipline makes the published £17.5 billion total, £13.2 billion non-lottery total and £8.3 billion remote figure complementary rather than contradictory.