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“We have tried hard to protect all our sites and the colleagues who work in them, but the combined impact of higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, increases in gambling taxes and wider economic uncertainty has left us with no choice,” said Chief Executive Jo Whittaker in a statement to iGB at the time the closures were announced.
Evoke also closed 200 of its William Hill stores in April of this year for the same reason.
Stella David, CEO of Entain, has also warned against the potential rise of MGD to Entain’s operations, forecasting a increamse of £100 million in operational costs, if the policy were to go through.
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Lula said he intends to discuss the matter with his team and analyse potential measures to consider the social impact of online betting.
What the president does not acknowledge is that the government relies on revenue from the sector. In just the first seven months of 2026, BRL8.747 billion generated by sports betting has already flowed into public coffers. The Federal Revenue Service estimates the total could reach BRL16 billion by the end of the year. In 2025, nearly BRL9 billion was collected from sportsbooks.
The burning question is where such funds will come from if Lula shuts down the betting industry. Yet, no one points out to him that players will simply migrate to the illegal market. Betting will continue to exist, but without formal tax revenue, oversight or player protections.
How to play Grand Fruits
Remote casino, betting, and bingo activity was the standout channel, generating £8.3 billion in GGY, a 6.9% year-on-year increase and accounting for approximately 63% of the non-lottery industry yield.
Online casino stood at £5.7 billion for the 12-month period, of which £4.8 billion was derived from slots. Remote betting came in at £2.4 billion, led by football (£1.2 billion) and horse racing (£769.3 million). Remote bingo GGY was at £147.8 million.
Quarterly data from January to March 2026 reinforced this trend, with online verticals generating £2.2 billion, and remote casino alone accounting for 68.3% (£1.5 billion) of that total.