Gambling Commission CEO: What Does 2025 Hold for the Gambling Industry?

_{The Gambling Commission to focus on enforcing regulatory compliance in 2025, says Rhodes. (Image: Wikipedia)}

The CEO of the Gambling Commission, Andrew Rhodes, has delivered a speech to the International Association of Gaming (IAGA) at the IAGA Webinar 2025. Rhodes’ speech addressed the question by IAGA on whether 2025 would be a ‘less political’ year.

Rhodes began by acknowledging the quality of the question, explaining that the topic of gambling has been so political and so fought over in recent years, “It is sometimes hard to imagine it might not be like that.” 

Rhodes promised not to speak for too long and to spend more time on the panel discussion. 

CEO Looks at Statistics  

Setting the tone of the speech, Rhodes looked at the latest industry statistics. He offered that there were some things that stood out as we go into 2025.

The first Rhodes alluded to was that for the first time, large society lottery sales have passed the £1 billion mark, as they continue to grow. 

He said, “This will undoubtedly be a consideration around the National Lottery, which has seen some reductions too.” 

Prize Draw Phenomenon: Something to Watch 

The cult of prize draws also came into view for Rhodes and he said, “As an aside to this, we are seeing the growth of participation in prize draws now sitting a little behind betting as an activity and well ahead of a number of other activities.” 

Gambling Growth at Highest Ever Level 

Turning his sights to Gross Gambling Yield (GGY), he said that it has grown to its highest-ever level and GGY from horseracing is also at its highest recorded level. 

Rhodes said: “This brings up the vexed question of what happens if you adjust for inflation and what we know is if you did, then the relative value of gambling has fallen in recent years. 

"That said, gambling as an industry has often weathered economic downturns of any kind reasonably well, but there isn’t very much evidence to suggest that if someone typically favours a £10 or £100 bet, that becomes an £11 or £110 bet if inflation is running at 10 percent. 

"So, as parts of the industry face higher costs, they will not necessarily see an increase in staking as a result—there is little reason why they would. This presents an economic challenge.” 

Participation in Gambling Steady 

Participation in land-based and online casinos has remained steady, according to Rhodes, who said that just under half the adult population engages with some form of gambling on a regular basis.

“So, if participation remains pretty static and at what is a high level, then if some products grow, it will be at the ‘expense,’ if I can put it that way, of other products.

There have been numerous debates about gambling in 2024 and Rhodes does not see this easing in 2025. He suggested this would be a year where the debate around gambling may or may not be less political.

“I do not imagine it will be a great deal easier. From my perspective, I think we have a number of blocks of opinion, broadly speaking, where there is severe disagreement and often antipathy at play. Sometimes, what these different groups feel should happen conflicts with what another group wants."

_{Rhodes is to attend ICE 20-22 January in Barcelona.} 

With changes coming down the pipeline by way of the statutory levy, Ombudsman and various other changes, Rhodes wondered whether the frequent ‘absolutism’ we often see in the commentary from various groups will continue. 

He said it led to debates about statistics and the evidence base and that there is a risk that positions are so entrenched and so reductive the actual point is missed altogether.

Focus on Broader Evidence Based on Multiple Sources 

Rhodes predicted that during the next year During the next year there should be a focus on the broader evidence base and what is being seen from multiple different sources rather than trying to argue whether a single number is right or wrong or perfect or imperfect. 

“Nobody should assume the regulation of the gambling industry should be reduced to a single number and the Gambling Commission certainly does not think that."

Football illegal gambling was also in the spotlight for the CEO. He said that the topic that has had its turn as a political one, with a small ‘p.’ The Gambling Commission has invested in this area in recent years and has had success in disrupting a lot of illegal activity.

Prevention of Illegal Market’s Ability to Scale Up  

Rhodes said that everyone should accept there has always been an illegal market present and much as different people want to debate the size and value of it, the reality is we need to understand the flow into it and why that happens, as well as preventing its ability to operate at scale.  

“We have been clear that we have focused our efforts on upstream disruption as much as possible and, much as I will not go into detail, it was announced by Evolution that they are subject to a review of their licence as a result of supplying games to illegal operators.”  

Ensuring Company and Suppliers Not Assisting Illegal Operators 

Due Diligence is something the industry will be well aware of or else fall foul of regulators and the law when it goes Pete Tong. Rhodes emphasised that everyone in the legitimate industry should undertake their own due diligence that their suppliers and partners are not engaged in unlicensed activity facing into the UK.  

He said, “Some have interpreted my remarks here as meaning I think the industry should be policing this rather than the regulator. Actually, I do not understand why anyone in the licenced industry would want to be in business with a company that is supporting illegal competition—it makes no sense to me at all and would suggest the illegal market is not the issue some suggest if this was deemed acceptable.” 

Rhodes promised that 2025 would see the GC continuing to use their new capabilities around covert test purchasing and other investigative tools to identify those who are assisting illegal operators, as well as targeting those illegal operators directly.   

“If the Commission feels it is necessary to suspend or revoke the licence of any operator or supplier, then their activity ceases immediately. 

"Whatever they are supplying you with stops—immediately. So, I would say that anyone who is reliant on a third party needs to be comfortable they are not likely to face that risk and if you think you are, I would be doing something about that now.” 

Numerous Influences Could Shift Political Involvement in 2025 

Concluding this insight and predictive look at the year ahead and answering the original question in his own inimitable way, Rhodes said that whether the year is more or less political might well be dictated by the reality that at any time something can happen that captures the attention of politicians, the media, campaigners, advocates or the industry itself.  

“Wherever there is risk, we know there will be difficult stories and some of those will be very difficult stories. It is risk-based regulation, not no-risk regulation, and even outside of regulated areas, there will be stories that understandably provoke a reaction.”  

He concluded, “In gambling, there is a coming together of product, person and place, and whilst the vast majority of the 22.5 million or so people who engage with gambling on a regular basis will do so without issue, that will not be true for everyone and much as there have been huge strides forward, that combination of factors and what might happen is not necessarily predictable.”