Fresh UK Gambling Commission figures show slots revenue and play volume climbing again even as overall online yield dips and fewer accounts stay active, all as chief executive Andrew Rhodes confirms he’ll step down on 30 April 2026.
The scoreboard: online GGY slips, activity rises
The Commission’s latest operator dataset (March 2020 to December 2025) puts total online gross gambling yield (GGY) for Q3 of the 2025–26 financial year at £1.5bn, down 2% year-on-year. At the same time, the number of bets and spins climbed 6% to 27.4bn, while average monthly active accounts eased 2% to 12.7m.
Sports betting cools off
Real-event betting took the sharpest hit in the quarter. GGY fell 18% to £530m, with bets down 6% and monthly active accounts down 7%. For everyday players, that usually translates to fewer people placing regular bets (or staking less often), even if the overall market still looks busy on paper.
Slots keep climbing, even under the new caps
Slots were the clear outlier. Slots GGY rose 10% to £788m, spins increased 7% to 25.7bn, and average monthly active slots accounts grew 5% to 4.6m. It’s also the third straight quarter these figures have hit new highs within this dataset.
That’s landed after the stake limits came in during 2025. The £5 cap started on 9 April 2025, then the £2 cap for 18–24s followed on 21 May 2025.
Longer sessions drop: fewer “lost an hour” marathons
Even with slots busier overall, the marathon sessions are thinning out. Slots sessions lasting more than an hour fell 16% year-on-year to 8.9m, and the average session length shortened by two minutes to 16 minutes. The Commission also flags that some operators changed how they measure session length last year, which can muddy clean comparisons.
Shops and betting halls aren’t escaping the dip either
Land-based betting premises also moved down. GGY fell 7% to £549m, and bets and spins dipped 1% to 3.1bn in Q3 2025–26.
Rhodes resigns: “never, ever boring”
Alongside the data, the UKGC has confirmed chief executive Andrew Rhodes will leave on 30 April 2026, with his next job to be announced later.
What did he say about the term? Rhodes called it a privilege to lead the regulator through a major period of change, and wrote on LinkedIn that the role was “never, ever boring.”
Executive deputy director Sarah Gardner will step in while the UKGC begins the search for an interim chief executive.
Why the timing matters: taxes are about to bite
Rhodes’ departure lands with operators bracing for a big duty jump. The UK government has confirmed Remote Gaming Duty will rise from 21% to 40% from 1 April 2026, and a 25% remote rate for general betting is set for 1 April 2027.
For players, this is the part that can show up in annoying ways. Expect tighter promos, stricter bonus terms, and more aggressive “value engineering” on offers as firms try to protect margins.
