BetWright’s CEO has insisted the challenger UK bookmaker can absorb the costs associated with the controversial tax hikes unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget last November.
As of Wednesday, 1 April, remote gaming duty (RGD) is to jump by 90% – from 21% to 40% – while remote betting duty (RBD) is to increase by 67%, going from 15% to 25% as of April 2027.
While Dave Matthews described the hikes as “disappointing”, he said the Colchester-based operator, which launched in December 2024, is able to continue operating after having built a large enough customer base, including 30,000 registered customers onboarded in its first nine months of trading.
He explained: “Being such a new operator – we only launched just over 15 months ago – the biggest mission for us was to try and build enough volume of customers to be able to tolerate headwinds like this.
“Our objective for this year has changed. We had much stronger growth targets but we’ve adjusted those down. We employ exclusively in the UK at the moment and we had plans to increase the number of staff because we’re growing.
“We’re still doing that but we’re just doing it at a reduced rate compared to where we were. Some of that’s just risk aversion, to see how things settle out.
Matthews added: “The new taxes come into effect next month. Over time, we’re going to see the net effect of it but we don’t know how it will affect us.
“We’ve done modelling so we know we’re roughly safe, but it’s not always possible to know in advance exactly how it’s going to play out.”
His comments come a few weeks after then Entain CFO and deputy CEO Rob Wood told EGR that it’s “really difficult for subscale operators to continue to do business” in the UK following the tax hikes and that this is an opportunity for the Ladbrokes and Coral parent company to take market share.
While duty on British horseracing was will remain at 15%, several operators have opted to pull sponsorships with the sport as they look to cut costs, including marketing expenditure.
Bet365 ended its title sponsorship of the Old Newton Cup and Lancashire Oaks at Haydock, as well as Newmarket’s Craven and July meetings, while Coral ended its 33-year sponsorship of the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival and BetMGM chose not to renew its deal with the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.
Although not quite the same kind of sponsorship, BetWright penned a deal with Sky Sports Racing to sponsor live horseracing coverage in Britain and Ireland at the start of March.
When asked if more deals could be in the pipeline, Matthews replied that an “adjustment” to the approach may be made due to the tax hikes and any decisions would be made after reviewing how the rest of 2026 plays out.
The CEO admitted that while horseracing “is close to a loss leader”, supporting the sport “makes sense” for a brand using it as an acquisition tool as opposed to a primary revenue driver.
“For us, it’s more to do with where we are as a brand more so than the kind of macroeconomic outlook of the industry,” he added. “We’re a new brand in acquisition mode, so we need the exposure. The brand works very well in the racing scene.
“There’s a lot of reasons to do it from a marketing perspective, not thinking about the underlying commercials, whether it’s profitable or not profitable. Even if we don’t make money offering a horseracing service, it appeals to our customer base and therefore we want to be involved.
“Horseracing provides a nice entry point. If you are trying to enter into this market, it does sort of make sense. But beyond that, it’s almost unsustainable to rely on it.”
Alongside the Sky Sports Racing deal, BetWright is currently the back-of-shorts sponsor of Championship outfit Norwich City and has secured the stadium naming rights for League One side Leyton Orient.
When speaking to EGR last October, Matthews said the operator’s strategy for the UK was to offer the “most important things” to players – fast withdrawals and “getting hold of money and rewards”.
As operators prepare for the impact of the tax rises, Flutter Entertainment said in November that adjusted EBITDA would take a $320m hit in 2026 and $540m the following year.
Meanwhile, evoke, which is currently undertaking a strategic review that could result in a full or partial sale of the business, forecasted in the wake of the Budget that the tax changes would, prior to any mitigation, add £125m-£135m to duty costs on an annualised basis once the 25% RBD comes into effect from April 2027.
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Dave Matthews tells EGR the tier-three operator has adjusted its growth targets and amassed a large enough customer base to take on “headwinds like this”
The post BetWright will survive UK’s “disappointing” tax hikes, insists CEO first appeared on EGR Intel.