The Gambling Commission has said prize draw participation is “likely to sit alongside gambling as an analogous activity” following its latest report into the sector.
The regulator undertook the study as part its new evidence themes roadmap, with the report coming under the exploration of the types of gambling experiences.
The report drew on the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, open banking data from YouGov Finance and Similarweb traffic data between April 2024 and April 2025.
The regulator found that those aged 45 to 54 were the biggest users of free prize draws, followed by the 55 to 64s.
The data showed that 80% of respondents who took part in free prize draws also participated in other gambling activities.
This included 25% engaging with two other gambling activities and 6% engaging in nine or more.
The most common gambling activities were lottery draws (68%), scratchcards (25%) and online instant win games (23%).
The GC said: “These activities can share common characteristics with free draws and prize competitions, such as low-cost entry, chance-based outcomes and the potential for large rewards.
“The high participation rates in these activities among free draw and prize competition participants suggests a preference for similar types of experiences.
“This may indicate that these individuals are drawn to specific formats of play, or that they engage in activities they are familiar with and enjoy.”
As per YouGov data, the average spend per user per year was £75.38, with an average of nine transactions per year.
Free prize draws remain outside of the remit of the Gambling Commission’s regulatory scope.
Last year, a voluntary code of conduct was published by the government which has seen several major prize draw operators sign up.
The voluntary code has implemented several gambling-style regulations and requirements on operators, such as offering deposit limits and self-exclusion.
The report read: “We understand that the activity is popular among consumers, at a similar level to online instant win games, with a similar customer demographic profile to lottery draws.
“We have seen that free draw and prize competition participation is likely to sit alongside gambling as an analogous activity, as 80% of those who spent money on a free draw or prize competition in the past four weeks also participated in a gambling activity.
“Participation in lottery draws, scratchcards and online instant win games were most popular for those who have participated in a free draw or prize competition.”
The post Prize draw participation likely “analogous” to gambling activity, says Gambling Commission first appeared on EGR Intel.
Regulator’s report suggests 80% of those taking part in prize draws are engaging with at least one other form of gambling
The post Prize draw participation likely “analogous” to gambling activity, says Gambling Commission first appeared on EGR Intel.