The Peers for Gambling Reform proposed an assessment of the economic impact of reforms to the UK gambling industry. This was carried out by the NERA Economic Consulting.
The report highlighted that the recent reforms would save the taxpayer between £68m ($96.3m) and £87m. It also went on to state that the reforms could lead to creation of 30,000 new jobs.
However, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) while welcoming the review of UK gambling Laws by the government, issued caution that the review must be based on actual evidence rather than ‘fantasy figures’.
As per Gambling Insider, BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher said: “The dream of anti-gambling prohibitionists has always been to somehow force people not to gamble or to gamble less, just because they don’t like betting. A minority of peers may look down their noses at the millions of working people who enjoy a bet, but the truth is that the overwhelming majority do so perfectly safely.”
He added: “The financial support our members have given to sports such as horse racing, football, rugby league, darts and snooker has been a lifeline over the past year, so the suggestion that a ban on sponsorship will do anything other than drive people to the black market is bizarre.”
“If people were restricted from betting in the regulated industry, they would simply migrate to the growing unlicensed, unsafe black market online that employs no one, pays no tax and contributes nothing to UK plc”, said Dugher.