UKGC Change To Promotional Offers

[newcustomeroffer]

Some changes to how promotional offers can be presented have been announced by the UKGC and will go live on the 19th December 2025.

Mixed product promotion ban

Mixed product promotional offers provide bonuses on the condition the consumer plays different products, such as betting and playing slots.

But evidence shows consumers are more at risk of harm when they gamble on multiple products rather than a single product. There is also the risk that mixed product promotions confuse consumers because of complex terms and conditions.

The ban is aimed at reducing harm and boosting fairness and openness.

Bonus wagering requirements limited to ten

Some promotional offers provide bonus funds to consumers on the condition the consumer re-stakes any winnings multiple times before being allowed to withdraw winnings from the bonus.

For example, a £10 bonus with a 50 times wagering requirement requires the consumer to play through £500 before the winnings can be withdrawn.  

Such high wagering requirements could confuse consumers and lead them to gamble for longer, and faster, than they are used to.

Capping the wagering requirement to ten decreases the likelihood of harm, reduces complexity, and improves transparency while maintaining consumer choice.

Full announcement here.

So if I'm reading this right, offers such as 'bet 10 get 30 plus 30 free spins' will be longer allowed, plus wagering requirements for any offer will be limited to 10x.

[baldidiot]

So if I'm reading this right, offers such as 'bet 10 get 30 plus 30 free spins' will be longer allowed, plus wagering requirements for any offer will be limited to 10x.

Yeah that's what it sounds like to me.

The capping of the WR is interesting, that's not something I've really seen talked about before. Good for the user but bonus hunters will have a field day with it (although I suspect the casinos will come up with an alternative type of promo pretty quickly).

[Mattbar]

That is pretty big news. It is going to kill a lot of the current sign up offers out there right now

[baldidiot]

Anyone remember the odd "release as you play" type offers? I think paddy and a bunch of the old wagerworks casinos did them.

I'm wondering if we might see a return to those for things like blackjack and roulette...

I'm guessing those wouldn't be included in this as it's not a WR, it's a reward, so the WR would only come into play on the bonus once released (unless they do it as cash).

[Mattbar]

You can trust they will find ways of doing it, they always do.

One benefit of this is it will simplify the offers, which may make them easier to promote. I'm sure a lot of these convoluted bonus offers with deposit tiers and different WR put a lot of people off

[newcustomeroffer]

One benefit of this is it will simplify the offers, which may make them easier to promote.

Yes, agree 100% - I understand that the bookies want players to try the gaming products but some of the offers are overly complex.

No mention of it in the announcement but I expect that those offers that have bonus elements restricted to bet builders/accumulators/specific events may remain.

[Mattbar]

It shouldn't have much of an impact on sports betting offers that include free bets for different sports products and events. There are not many bonuses for sports these days with high WR either. It will kill the cross-product offers like B10G30 + 50 Spins as you pointed out

[TheFisherman]

I think as usual it will have a negative effect. Firstly, casinos might remove deposit bonuses altogether and just stick with a spins on deposit offer. Secondly, if most bonuses today have a max bet of £5 then they will lower the max stake a lot if the wagering limit is max 10x. Making it harder to hit biggish wins to help clear the bonuses.

With regards to the cross sell, I don't know if this is meant specifically for brands that still have separate wallets for different verticals. But if it's not only them, then I find it quite a stupid addition. What are the forced deposit limits for if not preventing excess gambling. Why does it matter if a player spends his £100 monthly budget on both sports and casino or casino alone. He can't lose more than £100.

This will push players even more to unlicensed brands, as they will have very little comps.

[DanHorvat]

Users will flock to Curacao casinos. Well done UKGC.

[NoDepositCasinos]

You can trust they will find ways of doing it, they always do.

One benefit of this is it will simplify the offers, which may make them easier to promote. I'm sure a lot of these convoluted bonus offers with deposit tiers and different WR put a lot of people off

I agree. This isn’t the first time they have dealt with changes and limitations; as always, they’ll find a way around them. However, even if the offers become more simple, I think they’ll also be less appealing, pushing people to seek what they like and are used to in unregulated markets.