The continued ascendancy of Manchester City and Arsenal football clubs at the summit of English football has dented earnings at the owner of gambling giant William Hill.
Evoke reported that third quarter revenue was between one and two percentage points lower than it might have been because of a string of what it called “particularly customer-friendly sports results” at the start of the Premier League football season.
Manchester City and Arsenal, which for years have dominated England’s most prestigious league, have both put in near perfect starts to this season, only dropping three points between them.
Favourites performing well is a headwind for bookmakers, as the majority of punters tend to bet on what they see as the most likely result.
The unfavourable results compounded a seven per cent drop in revenue in the three months to October, which the William Hill owner attributed to the government’s raid on gambling firms at the 2025 Budget. The group has shuttered more 270 high-street shops since Treasury announced a major overhaul of the industry’s tax, which included a move to nearly double the online gaming duty.
Adjusting for its store closures, revenue was down two per cent over the same period, the company added.
William Hill owner warns against further Budget raid
Evoke chief executive Per Widerstrom said Evoke, which also owns 888casino and Mr Green, had shown resilience “following the substantial increases in gaming duties” in the UK.
“The closure of 270 shops over the past year shows the real impact on jobs and livelihoods from higher industry taxation, and we urge the UK government to carefully consider any further increases ahead of its forthcoming Autumn Budget,” he added.
The Chancellor is expected to launch a second crackdown in as many years at next week’s fiscal statement. Under the rumoured plans, John Healey will raise the duty on gaming machines at high-street betting shops by five per cent, less than the 20 per cent hike that think tanks including the Social Market Foundation have demanded.
Bookmakers had warned that a significant squeeze would lead to more job losses and store closures, and hamper the Prime Minister’s drive to revive UK high streets. Earlier this month, several of the industry’s largest players wrote to Healey, warning that a doubling of machines duty would result in nearly 1,500 betting shop closures and 15,900 losses.
Separately, Evoke said its acquisition by Bally’s Intralot “remains on track” and is on course to be completed in early 2027. The Irish gambling giant snapped up the struggling gambling firm for £400m in June, after William Hill owner’s share price shed more than 90 per cent of its value in the previous five years.