Over the last few years, the gambling industry has witnessed a significant amount of change, especially from a regulatory standpoint, while others have had knock-on effects from this.
Certainly one of these changes that has been observed is the fact that sign-up offers from casino and sportsbook brands have decreased somewhat.
Once upon a time, it was possible to find considerably generous welcome bonuses – especially from sportsbooks, where it was possible to get a £50 matched deposit in some cases for free bets, though now, UK sportsbooks, it seems, are being a lot more cautious.
Why Have Sign Up Offers Reduced?
There are several reasons why the gambling industry welcome offers have decreased, one of the biggest being that higher taxes that the government has introduced are having a particular impact on profits, which means that this has had an effect on promotions and how generous companies can realistically be.
Furthermore, there is now what seems to be more compliance and regulatory procedure than ever before, which has had an impact on what gambling companies are allowed to do when it comes to promotions and the way that they can structure them. One of the main industry governing bodies is the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority), which has introduced many different policies in line with how gambling companies can present promotions and the type of language that they are allowed to use.
In addition, there is seemingly less competition in the UK market right now than before, which can be linked to regulatory reasons, with numerous brands having had second thoughts about entering the UK market and some even having withdrawn, due to the much tighter restrictions. As a result, gambling companies know that they can be much less generous with promotions, because they are competing with fewer brands for a slice of the market.
Another noticeable factor is that, as well as lower welcome packages, but, for sports especially, retention offers also appear to be more infrequent with several sportsbooks, with many seemingly being less willing to give away things like free bets and other betting offers.
However, it could be argued that these are some of the most effective and less risky ways to keep customers, especially when you factor in that sportsbook brands can now use sophisticated algorithms to come up with free bet promotions that work more in the sportsbook’s favour. These can also work effectively if marketed in the right way as well.
Could More Generous Sign-Up Offers Return?
It will be interesting to see what happens in the UK gambling market over the next few years, especially when it comes to how gambling companies perform. Without a doubt, the UK market is still one of the biggest in the world, though, because of this, the government has realised that it can capitalise on taxation as opposed to other industries. The knock-on effect from other markets will also be interesting, with the US gradually becoming the biggest and most lucrative in the world. Certainly, over the last year, we have seen US brands such as BetMGM enter the UK market and it is unlikely that it will want to be hamstrung if these regulatory constraints put a dent in its balance sheet.
Like with anything, it is likely to come down to how well the economy recovers over the next 12 months. If there is a strong resurgence, more brands might be tempted to join or rejoin the UK market, which could see taxation reduced and then lead to greater welcome bonuses again, though, realistically, there are too many variables involved to make an educated prediction about this.
