British Sports Betting

Sports betting in the U.K. is available at land-based outlets and from online providers. Sports betting is regulated by the Gambling Commission under the Gambling Act 2005.

Since the passage of the 2005 Act, shops have been allowed to operate Class B2 gaming machines on their premises. This served as a boost to the industry during the recession and helped ease the impact of the smoking ban and higher taxes which the act imposed.

There are over 9,000 betting outlets throughout the U.K. Most of them are operated by William Hill, Ladbrokes, Gala Coral, Betfred and Totesport. There are a number of smaller operators in the U.K., but they account for less than 20% of betting shops in operation.