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THE UK IN 2024 : CAN THE SPORTS BETTING INDUSTRY BE SAVED ?
Amid a cloud of uncertainty since the white paper , the rising spectre of the black market and increasing polarisation between the industry and the Gambling Commission , Nick Brown speaks to some of the market ’ s key stakeholders on how the UK betting industry can weather the coming storm
A fter a turbulent 2023 , the UK ’ s outlook isn ’ t positive . GGR might be up by 10 %, but this has largely been down to online casino . Despite arguably being the world ’ s most famous sports betting market , the UK is in its toughest position in recent history . David Brown , a UK bookmaking industry veteran since 1976 , and extrading director for William Hill , Coral and LadbrokesCoral , is certainly worried .
“ I ’ ve been in the industry for 47 years and this is the most pessimistic I have ever been over the health of the UK sports betting market ,” he states .
A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME
Earnings reports throughout 2023 have arguably precipitated this decline . What should have been a record-breaking period – the 2022 World Cup and then a packed holiday season of horse racing – instead became grim reading .
Bet365 , the UK ’ s largest online operator by market share , raised the first warning flag . In a trading update issued at the beginning of 2023 , the company announced operating profit was down by 88 % over the last financial year . The second major warning came from 888 / William Hill . In publishing its Christmas and World Cup earnings , it went to great lengths to omit like-for-like gross win performance compared to Russia 2018 . UK-listed Entain , once one of the industry ’ s brightest prospects , has also seen its outlook worsen . With growth slowing in each quarterly earnings report throughout 2023 , its future is not bright . In November , investment bank and financial services giant Goldman Sachs downgraded Entain from “ buy ” to “ sell ”. Amid concerns over business growth , it now also forecasts Entain ’ s pro-forma online growth to be negative in Q4 of 2023 and H1 of 2024 .
ICE LONDON 2024 • ISSUE 135 • 129