The diversification of Entain’s portfolio paid off in the first half of 2025, however, group leadership have issued stark warnings about the unintended consequences of looming tax hikes in its home market.
We break down the key takeaways as CEO Stella David and CFO Rob Wood addressed investors around market focuses and continuing momentum as the UK continues to drive revenue but is also playing host to a fierce debate around regulatory and tax overhauls.
Picking up the Brit rewards but warnings over tax
The firm’s UK output enabled it to grow ahead of the market as it lapped the UK acceleration of last year.
Rob Wood, Entain’s CFO & Deputy CEO, underpinned that it was the UK performance that was at the heart of the operator’s success – fuelling a period of consistent growth.
Player value was cited as crucial to the firm’s success, having taken steps to improve its player journey for UK customers.
Net gaming revenue reached heights of 21% in the UK market, as the firm enjoyed omnichannel success, which was recorded as its strongest across the board.
It comes even amidst regulatory changes within the market, as the implementation of White Paper changes continues and political change impacts the sector.
Across the country’s home market, NGR grew by 9% to £1.09bn contribution, elevated by a 21% jump in online revenues.
Growth is coming simultaneously in player volume and traffic, as the market grew faster than expected. David cited a few key ingredients that have enhanced the player experience within the market, these largely coming from the sportsbook, including cashout, bet-builder and the acceleration of apps.
In terms of iGaming, she singled out the reward system, the coins economy, as being something that has grown the player experience for the operator.
There is an elephant in the room lingering over future UK growth prospects, and that comes in the form of much speculation around potential tax hikes.
David warned that we should be cautious over the law of unintended consequences, noting that raising the taxes for UK operators has the potential to be an own goal and lessen the money that comes in from the industry in terms of tax, instead boosting the black market.
She pointed to the Netherlands as an example that the UK should take warning from to ensure that it doesn’t make the same mistakes when it comes to unintended consequences of tax hikes.
“Whatever happens, we move and go forward” David stated as she also warned that the future of the high street is something that should be accounted for.
The UK retail market was also described as a valuable and stable asset, with praise being issued to the management team at the helm of the retail footprint of the firm.
Wood also expressed confidence that HM Treasury has a good understanding of the black market as a real threat, as he emphasised they will encourage the government to allow the regulated market to continue growing and increase its tax input organically.
European delights
Wood described Spain as the ‘star performer’ for the operator, with growth at almost 40%, playing a part in a period of success within Europe.
In the CEE, there were challenges with the product being largely weighted against football. However, the firm still lauded growth across its online verticals.
As there were comparative challenges with the presence of the European Championships boosting player engagement in 2024 across the continent.
Growth in Spain is one narrative that helps Entain beat its consensus, as Wood noted to investors of decision taken to address previous market declines – “Spain was in terrible decline for us. For a long while, the Bwin brand had been large in presence, and it went down to a much lower level. And then, we put in a new management team there. They started to unlock the opportunities of having a legacy brand that needed some more love and attention, and then you see the kind of growth that comes there.”
2025 also saw the Baltics and Nordics gain double-digit growth with the firm’s diversification strategy paying off in Europe.
Entain celebrated Central European contributions growing by 5%, fuelled by Croatia which increased by 11%, meanwhile in Italy the group gained by 7%.
David detailed that Poland remains an attractive market despite a slowing of income to 2%. Entain views increased competition challenging the dominant (+51%) position of STS Poland. David cited that dismissed Polish competitor tactics stating that they had applied a “race to the bottom on offerings, hinder them and not STS long-term position ”STS is prepared to dominate all transformation of the Polish market as incumbents push for the liberalisation of casinos has been widely anticipated.
On the other hand, the Netherlands was described as ‘a challenging market’, with the overhaul of the country’s regulatory framework continuing to present some stumbling blocks.
However, David did detail that the group is ahead of where it was anticipated to be in the market as and is edging closer to lapping some of the negative elements of the market performance.
Navigating the Brazil boom
Whilst admitting that adapting to a new regulatory environment ‘always comes with risks’, Wood underpinned that he is happy with the operator’s progress in Brazil.
Noting that it has navigated a market that is still somewhat unsettled, he added that the group is on target to meet its targets heading into 2025.
David commented: “Our transformation journey is well underway, gathering pace and supported by our high-quality portfolio of iconic brands. The actions we have taken are working. We have rebuilt momentum in the UK, executed a flawless Day One launch in Brazil’s regulated market, and BetMGM is delivering strong and profitable growth in the US.
“We remain committed to expanding margins, growing market share and ensuring our customers enjoy the best and safest experiences in the industry. With this foundation, I am confident we can return Entain to its winning ways.”
Entain’s CEO reflected that the company’s experience of Brazil hasn’t always been plain sailing since launching on day one of the market, but also praised the operator’s ability to adapt, specifically when it comes to the re-registering of all of its players in the market.
Consistency was described as the magic ingredient for Entain by David, and the consistency of the football calendar pulled in players for the operator in Brazil, with the FIFA Club World Cup final between Chelsea and PSG being the most bet on game all year.
Awakening the sleeping giants
Shifting focus to the second half of the year, David underpinned a focus on bringing back brands that are sleeping giants, and she clearly feels ‘great, emotional advertising’ is crucial to bringing these brands to life.
It was this that fuelled the rekindled love for the Bwin brand in Spain, a market where Entain achieved success during the first half of the year.
David detailed her optimism of tapping into continued momentum to secure a podium position for the Bwin brand in Spain – ‘returning the brand to where it should be’.
She also highlighted the importance of the preparation that the firm took in Brazil, as it ensured the relaunch of SportingBet took place well before the opening of the market in order to maximise the brand’s potential and exposure.
Integral to delegating funds across markets in terms of marketing, David revealed that the team is constantly learning and looking at return on investments incredibly mathematically.
Marketing has also been a key ingredient for the group within the core market of the UK as it looks to build a platform to kick off the football season in the most effective way possible – this came in the form of the marketing campaign Ladisfaction.
Jon Goulding, CEO of Atomic London, previously stated on the UK campaign: “We and the Ladbrokes team were united in a vision to create a campaign that was a million miles from the sea of sameness that engulfs the category and spoke of the unique personal experience Ladbrokes offers.
“A campaign that would live everywhere, build and evolve over time, and have the impact to return Ladbrokes to its rightful place as the country’s no.1 betting and gaming brand.”
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