The UK is one of the biggest gambling markets in the world. It generated a gross gambling yield of £16.8 billion according to the latest annual numbers from the UK Gambling Commission. It has held top market status for a long time now thanks to its developed digital economy and long association with betting through horse racing and physical betting shops.
Yet investors in the sector are facing increasing headwinds. Regulatory pressures raise compliance costs, and new limits and tools for players have led to changing behaviour across the business. Although growth remains strong (7.5% across 2025) other newer global gambling markets like the US and Canada are offering even bigger returns. So how are investors viewing the UK gambling business right now?
How Big is the Business - And How Is It Changing?
£16.8 billion is a big number - so it deserves some breaking down. The majority of betting in the UK is now done online, while physical betting shops continue to decline in revenue or simply shut entirely. Around 25% of that number is also the National Lottery, and other licensed lotteries.
Yet the competition for that remaining slice of the gambling market is intense. Unlike in the US, where up to 80% of online betting is done through DraftKings and FanDuel, the UK has a more diverse range of operators that divide market share more equally.
For one example of this, consider one of the many popular casinos available right now to UK players, licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.
A casino online UK players enjoy has to do more to stand out in the market than they used to. A top operator will have invested a lot in user experience and themes, as well as regular rewards and other features that promote customer retention through small engagements and prizes.
This demonstrates the level of competition in the market, when operators are spending time, money and effort to capture customers. In business terms, acquisition costs are high in the industry.
That has led to a shift towards retention strategies, over the gangbusters bonuses that dominated the market in the early years.
Major listed UK operators at the moment include:
- Entain
- The Rank Group (Grosvenor casinos owner)
- Evoke PLC (formerly 888) - not British but listed on the London Stock Exchange
Flutter Delisting and UK Exchange Worries
Two things tell the story of the UK gambling business in the past few years. One is that in 2024 Flutter Entertainment, the conglomerate that includes Betfair and other UK gambling companies, decided to move from the London Stock Exchange to New York.
The world's biggest online gambling company, including several UK-founded companies like FanDuel (started in Edinburgh) and Betfair, left the UK stock exchange for US shores.
The second is more recent, from this year. That is the Government formally asking betting companies how to deal with the burden of regulation.
This shows that even the government is now aware that its recent reforms have been somewhat squeezing the business. While GGY has been growing, operators have been fairly vocal that their actual revenues are being squeezed. Stake limits for players, more KYC and financial checks and higher taxation (including a recent 25% increase in licensing fees) have all cut into operators' income.
Eventually, this can lead to less competition, and more mergers or acquisitions, as bigger companies can more easily absorb the higher costs of bringing in customers or complying with regulation.
Entain, the largest publicly traded British gambling operator currently (owner of the previous Ladbrokes Coral group), has had a torrid time with its share price recently, down more than 30% year-on-year.
The Rank Group is also down 6% year-on-year. Out of the major UK-listed gambling operators currently, Evoke is the only one that has seen increased share prices over the past year - rising 112% after a few years of declines since 2021.
Bet365 is one of the world's biggest gambling operators, and a big employer and tax contributor in the UK. However, it is not publicly traded and remains family-owned, so it is of little interest to investors.
What Analysts and Experts are Saying on the Outlook
The UK gambling sector outlook is mostly mixed. Most analysts remain bearish on Entain, despite recent troubles, especially as its successful joint-venture BetMGM (with American giant MGM Resorts) could well be up for sale as part of billionaire Barry Diller's bid for the Las Vegas-based parent company.
Citi still has Entain on a buy rating despite recent troubles, although it did cut its target price estimate considerably.
The recent rise in UKGC fees hit many operators' share prices, which has also reduced some of the gains that the Rank Group made in recent weeks.
Companies with global exposure to growth markets like the US and Canada are generally favoured by analysts over domestic-focused UK brands purely because regulatory and tax pressures are so high right now. The market remains growing, and profitable, but increased pressures create uncertainty about the future.
