How Online Casinos Need to Rethink Promotions in the UK

The United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission recently revealed some upcoming changes to one of the tent poles of the country’s iGaming scene. Soon, what can be offered and the rules of offers regarding bonuses and promotions will undergo changes that look to change the majority of these offers that are available now. Operators haven’t got a choice but to accept this, but being such an important part of the business, a major rethink is now needed.

Promotions Matter in the Modern Consumer Market

Generally, customers in the UK who spend their money online or on online-based services have a lot of choice. It’s led to a competitive space in many areas, as can be seen by even some of the massive online streaming platforms like ITVX Premium, Now, and Prime Video offering up free trials to newcomers. Having such welcome offers is a clear-cut way to make the process of onboarding potential customers much more frictionless.

In iGaming, promotions have gone beyond mere marketing runs. Promotions and bonuses are entrenched in the UK online gambling experience. Customers expect to get a welcome bonus when they sign up, and this will often influence which platforms they join. Thus, promotions have become an ongoing competitive battlefield for the hundreds of licensed platforms available in the UK.

On 19 December 2025, the UKGC will enforce its new rules, with two headliners standing out. Firstly, mixed product promotions, such as casino bonus funds with free sports bets, will be banned. Each promotion will need to be for a single product. Secondly, wagering requirements will be capped to ten-times, which is very much a welcomed change for customers everywhere, but does require a rethink on bonus sizes to mitigate risk for sites.

Expanding the Promotional Range Beyond Welcome Offers

As noted, welcome offers are currently a big selling point of online casinos in the UK, with many of them tapping into the dual offer and using larger wagering requirements to enable much bigger bonus sums to be offered. Now, the focus will need to change. While not as overtly flashy, loyalty programs are proven to drive growth and retain customers when done well, so this should become the area of focus for platforms.

Some sites in the UK are already building out their promotional pages beyond the welcome offer, having spent a long time seeking to retain customers rather than live off of the flow of new customers dipping in for the welcome bonus and then moving on. This is why the casino sign up bonus is just one of the many promotions found at Jackpot City, with the others encouraging players to return thereafter.

The welcome bonus is making the most of the current rules, being a 100 per cent match bonus of up to £100 with 100 free spins, but it’s already joined by promotions ready to be claimed by loyal players. There’s the Mega Money Wheel that players can spin up to ten times each day to net up to £1 million in prizes, the Random Cash Drops, Daily Tournaments, and a roulette competition on Lucky 6 Roulette.

It’s this further field of promotions that platforms will need to spread out into to remain competitive once the new UKGC rules come into play. Players will also adjust in time, beginning to look beyond what will become fairly limited welcome offers and to which sites offer them the most boosts and bonuses after signing up.