The latest UK sports betting statistics from the Gambling Commission show online bookmakers took £24,965.55m in bets in 2025-26 but kept only £2,447.60m as gross gambling yield, 6.6% less than a year earlier. This 2026 guide covers football and horse racing, online and shop betting, bookmaker margins and why results move profits, alongside our wider UK gambling industry statistics.
UK sports betting statistics: online GGY in 2025-26
Gross gambling yield (GGY) is what operators keep after paying out winnings. It is the Commission’s main measure of the size of the market, while turnover is the total amount staked.
Remote betting turnover rose 4.5% to £24,965.55m in 2025-26, but online betting GGY fell 6.6% to £2,447.60m. The 2025-26 figures are provisional.
Quarterly figures show how uneven the year was. Online betting GGY was £631.42m from April to June 2025, £566.64m from July to September and £597.44m from October to December, before rising to £652.10m from January to March 2026.
| Financial year | Online turnover | Online GGY | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | £26,555.3m | £2,325.8m | 8.8% |
| 2020-21 | £27,229.6m | £2,639.5m | 9.7% |
| 2022-23 | £25,134.3m | £2,314.8m | 9.2% |
| 2023-24 | £24,114.7m | £2,361.2m | 9.8% |
| 2024-25 | £23,890.1m | £2,620.9m | 11.0% |
| 2025-26 | £24,965.6m | £2,447.6m | 9.8% |
Most of this comes from fixed-odds betting, with £2,330.28m of GGY. Betting exchanges added £92.66m and pool betting £24.66m.
For scale, online betting turnover was roughly three times total National Lottery statistics for sales in the same year, although the lottery’s yield is far higher because it pays out less in prizes.
Football vs horse racing betting
Football is the biggest sport for online bettors. The headline figure for football betting turnover UK operators reported online was £10,147.70m in 2025-26, 40.6% of the total, and produced £1,165.18m of GGY.
That turnover was 2.0% higher than in 2024-25, yet football GGY fell 12.4% from £1,329.65m. Bettors staked more but won more back.
Horse racing betting UK operators reported online is the second-largest category, with turnover of £7,849.22m and GGY of £769.32m. Racing stakes were almost flat, but GGY edged up from £762.64m.
Tennis turnover was £1,681.11m and cricket £1,132.82m, both well up on 2024-25. Unlike slots, sports bets have no statutory maximum stake, as the online slots stake limits apply only to online slots games.
How many people bet online
The Commission’s quarterly operator data cover the largest online operators, around 70% of the market. In December 2025 they had 5,286,259 active accounts betting on real events, which placed 264,844,353 bets that month.
Activity follows the sporting calendar. Active accounts peaked at 7,024,103 in April 2025, the month of the Grand National, and fell to 3,907,832 in July 2025, with March 2025 at 6,518,542 during the Cheltenham Festival.
A player can hold accounts with more than one operator, so these are accounts, not people. The data also cover only GB-licensed firms, so bets placed with European online casinos and bookmakers licensed elsewhere are not counted.
Betting is adults only, but the Commission’s 2025 youth survey found that 3% of 11 to 17 year olds had placed a bet on a betting website or app in the past year, as our article on young people and gambling explains.
Shop betting: counter vs terminals
Betting shops are shrinking but still matter, and UK sports betting statistics for shops are reported separately from online figures. There were 5,617 betting premises in Great Britain at the end of March 2026, down from 5,825 a year earlier.
Non-remote betting GGY was £2,422.22m in 2025-26, 3.3% lower than in 2024-25. On-course betting at racecourses added £30.16m and pool betting £24.70m. Over-the-counter betting produced £1,171.15m, down 6.3%, while gaming machines in shops produced £1,196.21m.
Horse racing is still the core of counter betting. In 2025-26 horses produced £456.23m (39.0%) of over-the-counter GGY and football £396.90m (33.9%), with dogs at £112.07m.
Self-service betting terminals (SSBTs) are taking a growing share. In December 2025 the operators in the Commission’s sample made £47,867,168 of GGY over the counter and £42,087,878 on SSBTs.
Key point: in December 2025 SSBTs took 13,291,061 bets against 41,329,117 over the counter, but earned about £3.17 per bet against £1.16, on our calculation.
Bookmaker margins explained
A bookmaker margin, or hold, is GGY divided by turnover. The average bookmaker margin UK operators achieved online was 9.8% in 2025-26, down from 11.0% in 2024-25, on our calculation from Commission data.
Margins differ by sport. Online football hold fell from 13.4% to 11.5%, horse racing was steady at 9.8%, and tennis was lower at 5.0%.
Operators also report a structural margin, the hold they expect over time. Flutter reported a structural sportsbook margin of 16.6% for its International segment in 2025, but an actual net revenue margin of 12.6% after unfavourable results.
These figures cover licensed operators only. DCMS cited a European Commission estimate that the UK black market for sports betting is 2.2%, so spending with offshore casinos and unlicensed bookmakers is small but outside every table here.
Why results swing profits
Sports betting income depends on results as well as stakes. When favourites win, bettors collect more and GGY falls, even if turnover rises.
Flutter’s UK and Ireland sportsbook revenue fell 13% to $1,465m in 2025 from $1,691m. It blamed lower stakes after the Euros in 2024, weaker horse racing betting outside major festivals including Cheltenham, and a 170 basis point swing to unfavourable results.
The monthly data show the same effect. Online real-event GGY was £266.67m in April 2025 but just £125.68m in September 2025, even though active accounts in September were higher than in July.
All of these numbers come from operators licensed in Great Britain. Betting sites outside the GamStop scheme do not report to the Commission and are not included.
The biggest bookmakers: Flutter, Entain and evoke
Three groups dominate British sports betting. Their annual reports add detail that the Commission’s market totals do not show.
Flutter, owner of Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair, reported UK and Ireland revenue of $3,547m in 2025, 22% of its group total. It had 506 Paddy Power shops in the UK and Ireland at the end of 2025, and its UK and Ireland online gaming revenue rose 11% to $1,926m even as sportsbook revenue fell.
Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, reported UK&I retail net gaming revenue of £1,049m. It says it completed its Group BetStation rollout across all Ladbrokes and Coral shops in 2025, upgrading more than 2,400 shops and converting 12,000 betting terminals.
evoke, owner of William Hill, reported UK&I Online revenue of £674.0m, down 2.8%, and UK Retail revenue of £501.0m, down 1%. It had 1,235 shops, closed 68 in the last quarter of 2025 and announced about 200 more closures in March 2026.
Company figures are not directly comparable with Commission data. They cover calendar years, include Ireland and use net revenue after bonuses rather than GGY.
FAQ: sports betting in the UK
Quick answers from Gambling Commission and company data.
How big is online sports betting in Great Britain?
Online betting GGY was £2,447.60m in 2025-26 on turnover of £24,965.55m, according to provisional Commission data.
Which sport do people bet on most?
Football, with £10,147.70m of online turnover in 2025-26, followed by horse racing with £7,849.22m.
What is the average bookmaker margin?
Online, about 9.8% of stakes in 2025-26, on our calculation. In 2024-25 it was 11.0%.
Why did bookmakers earn less in 2025-26?
Turnover rose, but results favoured bettors, especially in football, so online GGY fell 6.6%. Flutter also cited lower stakes after the Euros in 2024.
How many betting shops are there?
There were 5,617 betting premises in Great Britain at the end of March 2026, down from 5,825 a year earlier.
Commission figures are for financial years (April to March); 2025-26 is provisional. Operator data cover the largest operators only. Margins and shares are our calculations. Company figures are for calendar 2025 and Flutter reports in US dollars.
- Gambling Commission, Industry statistics, April 2025 to March 2026 (xlsx), tables 3, 6, 6a and 10b.
- Gambling Commission, Operator data, October to December 2025 (xlsx).
- Flutter Entertainment, Annual report on Form 10-K, 2025.
- DCMS, Online slots stake limits impact assessment.
- Entain plc, Annual report 2025.
- evoke plc, Annual report and accounts 2025.
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