Funding from online casinos goes to develop grassroots games in UK
UK sport benefits over other European countries because of the funding it receives from regulated online casinos, a new report published by the European Gaming and Betting Association has found.
The report, undertaken by independent agency Sportsbusiness, found that funding for sport in the UK, which comes from a combination of lottery money and a competitive online casino market, is greater than that of European countries like France.
The report stated that UK sports are better funded due to the increased revenue from sources such as the lottery and online casinos and that grassroots sport benefits from a broader spectrum of investors, which includes online casinos.
It was found that between 2004 and 2007, the UK’s online casino industry contributed approximately €164 million to sports in the UK. Football was the biggest beneficiary of the online casino industry, receiving approximately €133 for grass roots development.
The average annual budget for UK sport governing bodies was €80.1 million compared to €46.4 million in France and commercial funding in France represented 67.4 per cent of this total. In Britain, it stood at 65.4 per cent. Elsewhere, lottery funding equated for 10.2 per cent of revenue in France, compared to 7.9 per cent in the UK.
Sigrid Ligné, secretary general of the European Gaming and Betting Association said that the report confirmed that online casinos contributed to UK sport in a real and significant way. In a statement, he said:
"We are convinced that a fair and regulated opening of the online gaming and betting sector will rapidly lead to a diversification of funding sources for sports. On the contrary, it creates additional funding opportunities in jurisdictions where commercial partnerships originating from EU private gaming and betting operators are currently prohibited."