The UK Government’s Secretary of State has appointed Charles Counsell as interim Chair of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
Serving a nine-month term as interim Chair from 1 February 2025, Counsell will be replacing Marcus Boyle, who will be stepping down as Chair at the end of January next year.
Counsell has been a Senior Independent Director for the UKGC since April 2024. Previously, he was the CEO of The Pensions Regulator from April 2019 to March 2023.
During his time at The Pensions Regulator, Counsell helped to develop a corporate strategy to make the pension saver a priority for the organisation’s work, in addition to delivering the regulator’s first Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Climate Change strategies.
He has also served as CEO of the Money Advice Service and Executive Director of Automatic Enrolment at The Pensions Regulator.
Leaving the UKGC at the end of next month, Boyle has been Chair of the Commission since September 2021. His term was initially set to expire on 4 September 2026.
In November, Baroness Twycross, Minister for Gambling, said on Boyle’s departure: “The past three years have been very significant for the Commission, as it takes forward measures set out in the Gambling Act Review and the start of the fourth National Lottery licence.
“I am grateful for Marcus’s hard work and commitment to the Gambling Commission and public service over his tenure and wish him the best for his future endeavours.”
The State of New York reported nearly $2.5 billion in mobile sports wagering handle for January, a new record high.
This was the fifth consecutive month in which the Empire State broke the $2 billion handle mark. January’s record-breaking handle was an 8.77% increase on December’s $2.28 billion. It breaks the record set back in October of $2.32 billion.
With two months of the fiscal year left to report, New York is $0.3 billion short of the $19.8 billion handle reported for 2023-2024.
Gross Gaming Revenue reported for the month was up 64.4% on December’s figure, rising from $150.4 million to $247.0 million. This represented handle of 9.96%, a dramatic increase from December’s low 6.57%.
After adjustments, fines and penalties, $149 million was contributed to the Education Fund in tax revenue.
January is typically a difficult month globally for the hospitality industry, and brick-and-mortar casinos in New York were no different.
Total GGR from retail operators decreased 1.87% from December to $54 million for January 2025. Despite a decrease month-over-month, 2025’s brick-and-mortar casino GGR was up 10% year-over-year from 2024’s $49.1 million.
Slot drop declined by nearly 3% month-over-month, with $456.7 million being wagered and $414.4 million being won. After promotional credits, slot GGR was $37.3 million, down 4.83% from December’s figure.
The GGR of table games also decreased but by a smaller margin. It fell 1.2% to $14.8 million from $14.98 million.
The only two categories that reported positive net revenue were retail sports betting and poker. Poker and sports wagering both reported just shy of $1 million in GGR. Sports wagering handle fell 19.43% from December, a stark contrast to mobile activity. December saw landbased casinos actually record a net loss on sports betting.
