Sportsbet’s parent company is slashing jobs in Britain and Ireland as higher gambling taxes reshape the industry.
Flutter Entertainment, the global wagering giant that owns Australia’s Sportsbet, has announced plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs across its UK and Ireland operations, blaming substantial increases in gambling taxation.
The proposed redundancies represent approximately 15% of Flutter’s UK and Ireland workforce, with jobs in Leeds, Dublin and other European locations at risk.
The announcement follows plans to close up to 100 Paddy Power betting shops in Britain and Ireland, another sign of the growing financial pressure on the regulated wagering industry.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Flutter UK and Ireland chief executive Kevin Harrington said the company had little choice but to restructure.
“As we warned a year ago, we cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed cost base and therefore must restructure our business so that we can best position ourselves for the future.”
The restructuring is expected to cost Flutter between US$80 million and US$90 million to implement.
The job cuts come amid a difficult period for the global wagering giant, whose share price has fallen more than 65% over the past 12 months (from $250 down to $78.19 today). Alongside mounting taxation and regulatory pressures, Flutter is grappling with the rapid emergence of prediction markets, particularly Kalshi and Polymarket, which are challenging traditional bookmakers.
The UK Government announced significant increases to gambling taxes in its 2025 budget, with remote gaming duty on online casino products jumping from 21% to 40% in April 2026.
Remote betting duty, which applies to online sports wagering but excludes horse racing, is also scheduled to increase from 15% to 25% in April 2027.
For Australian readers, remote betting duty is broadly comparable to the Point of Consumption Tax (POCT) imposed on wagering operators across Australian states and territories. While the tax structures differ, both place a substantial impost on licensed bookmakers taking bets from customers.
Australia has already experienced the consequences of an increasingly expensive wagering environment, with turnover softening in recent years as operators grapple with higher taxes, regulatory restrictions and rising costs.
The implications extend well beyond the bookmakers themselves. Wagering turnover underpins much of the funding for Australian racing, and a shrinking regulated market ultimately means less money flowing back to the sport.
Harrington warned that the taxation changes had fundamentally altered the economics of the licensed industry.
“The material increase in betting and gaming duties announced in the UK Budget last year has fundamentally changed the economic model of the regulated betting and gaming industry in the UK while helping to fuel the unlicensed, unregulated market.”
Flutter continues to highlight the growth of the unregulated wagering market as an unintended consequence of government overreach.
There are parallels with the tobacco industry, where successive tax increases have contributed to a growing illicit cigarette trade, undermining the legitimate market and government revenue.
The danger for wagering is similar.
Licensed bookmakers face taxation, compliance costs and regulatory obligations that overseas operators avoid, allowing them to provide more attractive prices and products to frustrated customers.
As the price and value gap between regulated and unregulated operators widens, so too does the incentive for punters to look elsewhere.
It’s an issue we’ve previously explored at Betsy in The offshore drain: Racing is sleepwalking into a funding crisis.
There are, of course, legitimate reasons for governments to tax and regulate gambling, including raising revenue and reducing gambling harm. But there is a point at which increasing the burden on licensed operators risks making the unregulated market more attractive.
The challenge for governments is finding the balance between generating tax revenue, protecting consumers and maintaining a commercially viable regulated industry.
Flutter’s announcement is a timely reminder that taxation decisions have real-world consequences, not just for wagering companies and their employees, but for the racing industries that depend on them.
