The ownership group behind William Hill and 888 claim that punters are staking less on their bets than they have for some time.
The Evoke Group posted their financial results for the first half of 2025 today (August 13), revealing that their sports betting arm had ‘lagged’ behind when comparing the figures to the same period last year.
They reported a 1.4% drop-off in the UK and Ireland from the first half of 2024, with net revenues of £588 million – despite their online gaming division showing a gain for the same period.
And Evoke chiefs believe that it’s the size of bets placed, rather than the volume, that has caused the downturn in their results.
Staying Positive
One of the explanations for the lower results is that punters seemingly wagered more during the summer of 2024, when football’s European Championship was playing out – with England reaching the final, which helped to increase total betting handle on the event.
The summer of 2025 has lacked such an eye-catching tournament, although other bookmakers have claimed that the Club World Cup – won by Chelsea – was a significant contributor to their more positive returns.
In their financial reporting, Evoke point the finger of blame at a lack of action this summer, with their downturn sparked by ‘lapping the Euros’ as well as increased investment in an ‘evolved’ marketing approach.
Mind you, they also believe that the safer gambling measures implemented in the second half of 2024 – such as ‘frictionless’ affordability checks – have also contributed to their brands recording a loss in the first half of this year.
It’s not all bad news for the conglomerate, however. Overall sales, when considering all of their jurisdictions, not just the UK and Ireland, saw an increase of 3% to £887 million – Denmark, Italy and Romania have been the key drivers of such growth, according to Evoke’s H1 report.
The CEO of Evoke, Per Widerstrom, commented on his company’s results:
“We are seeing clear evidence of the transformation and operational reset we’ve undertaken, with the group delivering continued revenue growth, significantly improved profitability and meaningful deleveraging during the first half of the year.
“The acceleration in Q2 performance, together with a strong pipeline of product enhancements and operational efficiency initiatives, underpins our confidence of improved growth in H2 and reiterated guidance of 5-9% revenue growth, as we continue to execute against our plans to create significant shareholder value.”
Choppy Waters
Potential rises in gambling tax are a major concern for UK operators
Meanwhile, in complete contrast, Entain – whose brands include Coral and Ladbrokes – have revealed net gains in the first half of 2025 compared to last year… thanking the Club World Cup, the women’s Euros, Royal Ascot and Wimbledon for the uptick in their fortunes.
They enjoyed an 11% rise in profits in the first six months of this year compared to last, with revenues rising by 3% to £2.5 billion for the period.
While a good chunk of that international performance is due to the expansion of BetMGM in the United States, back home in the UK and Ireland the firm still posted a gain of some 21% compared to 2024.
And while Evoke bemoaned a drop-off in wagering this summer, with no men’s Euros, Entain have positively revelled in the sporting schedule over the past few months – with ‘fantastic results’ enjoyed via the Club World Cup in particular.
However, the mood isn’t one of overwhelming confidence in the UK gambling sector right now, as the government appears increasingly likely to hike taxes in its Autumn Budget later this year.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has spoken of a need to raise considerable capital to help the government meets its targets, with inheritance tax and gambling tax both expected to rise.
There had been previous talks of a ‘harmonisation’ of the industry’s taxation regime, with bookmakers and sports betting firms witnessing an increase to 21% on their profits – bringing them into line with the online gaming sector.
However, there have been reports that the chancellor is considering a blanket 25% tax – or potentially even higher – on all UK licensed gambling operators.
Industry representatives have understandably been up in arms about such a possibility, with Entain CEO Stella David claiming that a tax hike would force betting firms to cut costs and increase margins – potentially pushing punters to seek better odds with unlicensed black market bookmakers.
The news could be particularly damaging for Evoke, given that around 65% of their entire revenue is generated from the UK and Ireland. Their share price has fallen by more than 12% in the past five days alone.
Gambling firms are bracing for possible tax hikes in the upcoming Budget. The market accounted for two-thirds of Evoke’s revenues last year.