The Betting and Gaming Council has criticised the Chancellor's decision to raise Machine Games Duty to 25%, saying EY modelling shows almost 9,000 people could lose their jobs and almost 1,000 betting shops and casinos could close or come under serious threat of closure.
The bill so far
The industry is still absorbing last year's £1.7 billion tax raid. Online gaming duty rose to 40% in April 2026, and general betting duty is due to reach 25% in April 2027. Since last year's Budget more than 600 betting shops have closed or announced closure, and over 11,000 jobs across the online and retail sectors have been lost or put at risk. More than eight in ten betting shop jobs sit outside London. Closures are expected in the north of England and Scotland, where previously shut venues still stand empty. Casinos face the same pressure: the council says viable businesses will close and planned investment will be undermined before it can be delivered.
Sports funding is exposed too. The industry puts around £350 million a year into horseracing and more than £40 million into the English Football League and Scottish football, with separate support for rugby league, darts and snooker. The BGC values the sector's contribution at £6.8 billion to the British economy, more than £4 billion in tax and 109,000 jobs. Grainne Hurst, its chief executive, said the Chancellor had ignored repeated warnings, and that a higher tax makes the illegal market more attractive, where operators pay no UK tax and offer none of the safeguards required of licensed businesses.
Bingo clubs and the market read
The Bingo Association questioned a quarter rise in the rate clubs pay on their machines, six months after the government abolished Bingo Duty in April. Abolishing the duty was worth around £22 million a year to the sector; the new 25% rate reverses around £13 million of that. The association's modelling, shared with the government before the Budget, puts the number of loss-making clubs at 77. Operators had committed £50 million of investment in clubs outside London and the South East this year, and that will now be cut back sharply. Nicole Garrett, the association's chief executive, said clubs cannot build a future on promises that last six months.
For operators the outcome is softer than the worst case. MGD moves from 20% to 25%, where part of the sector had braced for 40%, and shares in Entain and Rank Group rose around 7%, said Steve Grech, group CEO Europe at Trust Payments. The rate starts in April 2027, which leaves a window to review pricing, machine mix and investment plans. Mark Renshaw, chief executive of Spotlight Sports Group, owner of the Racing Post, said every betting shop closure means less money for the sport.
