Europe’s Largest iGaming Operators Navigate Tax Hikes and Regulatory Strain Through International Expansion

Europe’s largest gambling operators built their empires at home. As taxes climb, regulation tightens and growth slows across the continent, home is becoming a much harder place to do business.

Entain’s FY25 results, published in March 2026, showed underlying EBITDA of £1.16 billion, up eight percent on a constant-currency basis. Statutory pre-tax losses reached around £557 million. The company’s FY26 guidance indicates online NGR growth of five-to-seven percent.

European Tax and Regulatory Pressures Intensify

From April 2026, Entain absorbed an increase in Remote Gaming Duty, which nearly doubled from 21 percent to 40 percent. Entain can mitigate around 25 percent of the incremental cost this year. The figure rises to over 50 percent from 2027 through Project Romer, which targets savings of some £100 million.

The operator is cutting 500 jobs globally. It cites the UK tax changes and competition from prediction market platforms. Flutter estimates the same UK tax changes will reduce adjusted EBITDA by around £240 million in FY26.

This forms part of a wider European trend. The Netherlands has increased gambling taxes three times since 2024. France has pushed GGR taxation above 59 percent. Italy has introduced €7 million licence fees. Germany continues to tax turnover rather than gross gaming revenue. These steps have raised operating costs and driven concerns over channelisation to unlicensed operators.

As reported by iGaming Future, Vixio forecasts regulated online gambling markets in the U.S., Canada and Latin America will generate US$56.3 billion by 2028.

The Strategic Turn Toward Latin America and Africa

Latin America delivered record quarterly revenue in Q2 2026 for Betsson, growing 32 percent year-on-year. Latin America accounted for more than one-third of total group income. Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall happily asserts: “We are investing in several B2C markets that are not yet profitable.”

Vixio projects Africa’s regulated online gambling market will grow by around 48 percent between 2025 and 2028. Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe, CEO of the African iGaming Alliance, told iGamingFuture: “Regulation must protect consumers and uphold integrity, but it must also create an enabling environment for sustainable investment and innovation.”

Operators maintain core European operations. Yet most meaningful growth initiatives now point outward. For these groups, expansion into newer jurisdictions is becoming a commercial necessity. Execution in these markets will determine which operators sustain long-term momentum amid continued domestic constraints.

Reporting: iGaming Future

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