The consequences of Brexit: what waits the gambling industry

On June 23, 2016, the UK held a referendum (Brexit), in which every citizen could vote for the withdrawal of the country from the European Union. The result was unexpected: 33.6 million voters (51.9%) supported this initiative. A year has passed since this event, and still, much uncertainty remains about the influence of this decision, particularly now when the Conservatives failed to get a majority at the elections of June 2017.

Although there are people who rejoice about Brexit, there are also those who are worried as to its influence. Moreover, one of the major questions that many people ask is the impact of Brexit on the gambling industry in the UK.

The UK Gambling

The matter is that Great Britain is the birthplace of igaming in general, as Microgaming opened the first online gambling resource here in 1994. There are main offices of leading online casinos here, for example, Betfair, Paddy Power, Bet365, William Hill, alongside with other noticeable figures in the industry of online gambling.

The gambling market of this country is one of the largest and most profitable in the world. In 2015, this industry cost more than £ 85,000,000, of which £ 3,600,000 came from British players.

Possible Options

It is possible to expect two things as to the impact of Brexit. It might occur periodically allowing businesses and legislators to adjust their laws and systems. This would be the wisest option as it will guarantee the possibility for the legislators and businessmen to introduce new systems that will lead their business to blossom.

The second option is a clean break, the result of which is uncertainty and disaster, as a possibility. This will make the life of legislators and businessmen more difficult.

Current Situation

As there is still quite a lot of uncertainty as to Brexit, the British Gambling Industry has to search for some alternatives to ensure that their bases are covered in any possible development of the events.

Online gambling has significantly improved its position for the last couple of years and there is no doubt that this is one of the booming industries now. As the number of customers is constantly increasing, it is necessary to think how to capitalize on this. Some people consider Brexit as the end of the UK gambling market, although others treat it as the start of new opportunities.

As the uncertainty prevails now, there is a chance for legislators and businessmen to think how to capitalize on this creating a new winning strategy.