Traders responded like they did in the 2024 sell-off, even though the government said nothing official yet about the policy.

Key Points

• On Friday, gambling company share prices dropped hard after rumours about bigger UK gambling taxes.
• That market fall reminded many of October 2024, when the same kind of stories turned out to be false.
• Share prices are a bit steadier today, but they still haven’t come back to where they were before the rumours.

Share Price Drops After Tax Rise Rumours

On Friday, heavy drops hit London-listed gambling operators after stories surfaced that the autumn budget could include a steep rise in UK gambling levies. The Guardian said late Thursday that government sources had told them taxes are “near-guaranteed” to go up on both online and physical gambling. Many investors hurried to sell shares in the sector. Flutter Entertainment ended the day down 8.1% at 21,060.00p ($267.22). Entain’s price dropped 5.8% to 938.00p and Evoke lost 7.2%, closing at 66.10p. Shares in Rank Group finished the day down 4.8% at 147.60p.

Market Remains Cautious

On Monday, share prices did not bounce much. Flutter Entertainment moved down a tiny 0.09% to 21,040.00p. Entain sank again by 0.95% to 929.08p. Evoke also fell, this time by 2.31% to 64.57p. Only Rank Group moved up, gaining 0.95% to 149.00p. To remember: In October 2024, the sector also suffered big losses on rumours about a £3bn gambling tax hike, but the budget after that did not increase taxes. Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves made it public that a gambling taxation review had started, but did not say what changes would happen and promised policy plans would come “in the normal way” later this year.

Industry Response and Next Steps

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), an industry group, criticised calls for higher gambling tax, calling ideas from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) “economically reckless” and warning they might make gamblers go to unregulated operators. Some market analysts think the fast sell-off on Friday could have happened too soon. The next few weeks will matter a lot for how investors feel, because Entain plans to announce results this week. If the government says more before the budget, gambling shares could swing even more.