Gambling.com Group COO Kevin McCrystle has said the UK will remain a “robust market” amid projections that the long tail of smaller operators will exit in light of tax hikes.
Remote gaming duty will jump from 21% to 40% in April, with remote general betting duty hitting 25% in April 2027.
It is expected that some of the significant long tail of smaller brands in the UK will depart the market when faced with the economic pressures of the raising duties.
Gambling.com Group, the Ireland-headquartered affiliate, noted in its Q4 earnings report that its own 2026 performance would be impacted by the tax increases.
Speaking on the subsequent analyst call, McCrystle said that despite the challenges, there remained positive signs in the UK.
He remarked: “We are starting to see the impact of the UK market changes. It’s a mix of a few different things.
“There will be some brands that leave the market. There are hundreds of brands in the market, so [if] some leave, it’s still a very robust market.
“We’ve always done well with the challenger brands, which there will still be enough of in the market going forward.
“Our strategies in the market will still persist and work really well. If anything, it will be a more open opportunity for us if some competitors do decide to exit the market as well.”
Gambling.com Group is forecasting full-year 2026 revenue to land between $170m and $180m, with adjusted EBITDA between $50m and $58m.
That is compared to full-year 2025 revenue and adjusted EBITDA hitting $165.4m and $58m, respectively.
“Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA [will be] negatively impacted by continued poor search dynamics and regulatory headwinds in the UK, where a higher-than-expected increase in gaming duty will impact player values and volume, as well as in Europe, where new regulations in Finland will curtail performance marketing,” the report read.
During the call, CFO Elias Mark added: “It’s hard to pinpoint in exact terms the impact of each of these because there is an element of correlation.
“But what has materially changed in the macro environment since we last reported is the regulatory headwinds in the UK and Finland that we already see impacting us.”
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COO Kevin McCrystle says operator exits due to increasing duties will still leave large pool of challenger brands to tap
The post Gambling.com Group expects “robust” UK market following tax hikes first appeared on EGR Intel.