Category A Proposals Could Cost UK Casinos £20m A Year

UK Casino operators stand to lose out on £10-£20m each a year if the government sticks to its guns over the proposals to limit category A machines to 'regional', resort style casinos.

That was the stark message from John Hagan, partner at gaming law specialists Harris Hagan, in his address to delegates attending this week's IBC UK Conference, 'Moving closer to reform - The Gambling Bill'.

"In the States, when you have a properly developed casino, and it doesn't have any restrictions on numbers, it's looking to account for something like 70% of revenue from slots," Hagan said highlighting the importance of casino slots to an operation. "I took some soundings from clients as to how much they expected these category A machines to be worth in the UK and the estimates range from £50 to over £100 per machine per day. If, as a result of the government's proposals, you have 500 less machines in your portfolio across the UK, you're going to lose between £10m and £20m a year in revenue."

Hagan said that these figures emphasised the significance of the government's category A proposals and explored why this was such a shock to the industry.