The UK's national online gambling self-exclusion scheme GAMSTOP has reached a historic milestone, announcing that over 500,000 consumers have registered for the service since its launch in 2018.
This free service allows vulnerable consumers to ban themselves from all gambling sites licensed by the Gambling Commission for up to five years, with options for shorter periods of six months or one year. Currently, over 440,000 individuals have been banned, with about half choosing to extend the time as much as possible.
April 2024 set a new record with 8,686 new registrants, marking the highest monthly registration since GAMSTOP was launched in April 2018.
The news of 500,000 consumers registering for self-exclusion was announced prior to the third annual Self-Exclusion Awareness Day on September 12, when football clubs from all levels of the pyramid will come together to promote GAMSTOP to their supporters. Self-exclusion information will be displayed at EFL football grounds over the weekend of September 7-8, and digital assets will be posted on the social channels of the partnering clubs.
The Gambling Commission's latest research provides new insights into gambling-related harms, which will help shape GAMSTOP's outreach strategy. Among all survey respondents, 2.5% reported having a gambling problem, with men and those under 35 being more likely to suffer harm.
Data from the first half of 2024 shows that the age of GAMSTOP registrants is decreasing, with half of the registrants aged between 16-35 years, and the number of 16-24 year-olds opting out of all online gambling sites has grown by 12% year-over-year.
The second independent evaluation of GAMSTOP will be published in late September. Ipsos surveyed over 4,650 GAMSTOP users, with 78% stating that GAMSTOP achieved the outcomes they hoped for, and 75% reporting greater control over their gambling choices.
The full study will be shared with gambling operators at a webinar on September 19. Ipsos surveyed the effectiveness of GAMSTOP in reducing gambling harms and how it supports its users alongside other forms of gambling prevention and support.
GAMSTOP CEO Fiona Palmer stated: "Since our launch in April 2018, we have made significant progress, and GAMSTOP is now widely regarded as an important tool for helping vulnerable consumers quit gambling. We are proud to have helped hundreds of thousands of people take back control of their lives through self-exclusion, and we hope to help many more in the coming years.
We are doing the right thing by regularly assessing the effectiveness of the service through independent research, and we will soon announce the results of a comprehensive listening exercise conducted by Ipsos, who surveyed thousands of GAMSTOP users."
