GAMSTOP seals record with 500,000 self-excluded consumers

GAMSTOP, the national self-exclusion program, has achieved a major milestone with the initiative seeing more than 500,000 consumers enroll into the program since 2018, setting a record. Out of these, 440,000 people remain on the exclusion list, the company said in an email press release.

UK players who self-excluded remain on the list

The number of currently self-excluded persons suggests that most consumers are conscious about their gambling habits and want to improve their situation if they feel that they have taken their hobby a step too far.

GAMSTOP offers exclusions for six months and a year, as well as a five-year option. Half of all people have put themselves on the list for a period of five years, and the program recently posted another record when it accepted 8,686 new registrants in April this year.

The news comes ahead of another initiative, Self-Exclusion Day which will be held on September 12 and will be promoted with the help of soccer clubs in the United Kingdom from across all divisions. GAMSTOP messaging will be shown by the clubs, reminding players to take control of their gaming habits and tap into the self-exclusion program.

GAMSTOP CEO Fiona Palmer has welcomed the most recent results with GAMSTOP hitting 500,000 registrants by saying:

"We are proud to have been able to help hundreds of thousands of people to take back control of their lives though self-exclusion and we hope to help many more in the years to come."

One notable trend has been the fact that the age of the registrants has been falling, GAMSTOP said in the press release. According to the organization, half of the people who were excluded in the first half of the year were aged 16-35.

More detailed breakdown of self-exclusion numbers coming in September

By the beginning of August, GAMSTOP had reported 49,500 new registrants in 2024 alone. Overall, the organization said that the number of registrants has been inching up with a previous report released at the end of January 2024, suggesting that the number of total registrations in 2023 was up 10% on the results from 2022.

GAMSTOP is preparing to share a more detailed breakdown of the overall levels of self-exclusion, including demographics, later this month – September 19, offering more worthwhile insight into who is self-excluding, what their motivations are, and for how long they tend to self-exclude, among other vital insights that could help better inform and understand problem gambling behavior as well as people’s motivation to seek help.

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