If you visit Mansion Casino UK or Casino.com UK at the time of writing, you will be greeted by the following statement:
“We will no longer accept deposits at 17:00 GMT and gameplay at 23:50 GMT on Thursday, 12th of January 2023.”
“Please withdraw any funds before 23:59 GMT Wednesday, 12th April 2023.”
A quick Google search will confirm that these once-popular sites are closing, only to leave you in the dark as to why. So, what’s happening here? Why is the Mansion Group shutting up shop in the UK?
What is Happening?
Mansion Group withdrew Mansion Sportsbook from the market back in 2022, with the idea being that the brand was going to focus more on the online casino market. But in 2023, it announced that it was withdrawing three major sites: Slots Heaven, Casino.com, and Mansion Casino.
As things stand, the casino is not accepting new players, but existing members have been given several months to withdraw their funds. As the above notification warns, it is no longer accepting new deposits.
It means that players can’t join the site and deposit without knowing about its inevitable closure. It also means that existing players can’t easily deposit, leave funds in their accounts, and forget about them. It has given players plenty of opportunities to save themselves time and money.
But that begs the question—why? These are some of the biggest names in the UK online casino sector, so why are they backing out of the market?
Why is it Happening?
The UK gambling market is huge, but it’s also very tightly regulated. Operators are forced to abide by strict rules and regulations, and failure to do so can result in sizeable fines.
There is no credit card gambling, no skipped slot spins, no “buy feature” options, and a heavy focus on anti-fraud and problem gambling measures.
All of these are designed to protect players, and rightly so, but we expect that they make life difficult for casino operators. Combined with the competitive nature of the UK gambling industry, it means that the UK isn’t the exciting and lucrative prospect that it once was for gambling operators.
Ultimately, that’s why Mansion Group left. There are no regulation breaches and no major issues. It just stopped being financially viable for the brand, and so they pulled out.
Of course, it might have been a different story if Mansion Group operated solely in the UK, but that’s not the case.
Take Casino.com as an example. Yes, it’s a major online casino in the UK, but it also operates separate sites in New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and other countries. What’s more, Mansion Group does a lot of business in both new and existing markets, including those in Canada and Spain.
There is no secret as to why it happened. There is no shock story. It’s just the result of an experienced gambling operator doing their sums, checking the fixtures, and realising that now would be a good time to pull out. After all, UK regulations are only getting tighter and more restrictive, so if a brand is struggling to turn a profit now, it won’t get any easier in the coming years.
