The UK gambling market continues to grow, but tighter regulations, rising taxes and changing advertising opportunities are putting increasing pressure on brands and their budgets. Simply spending more is no longer enough; success comes down to reaching the right audiences through the right channels.
With competition intensifying, smarter media planning is essential. Brands need to balance short-term performance with long-term visibility, ensuring every investment works harder to deliver meaningful results.
For gambling brands, the challenge is no longer simply reaching a large audience. It’s understanding where to invest, how to remain visible and how to make every part of the media plan work harder.
The UK gambling market generated £17.5 billion in gross gambling yield (GGY) in the year to March 2026, an increase of 4.4% year on year. Excluding lotteries, GGY reached £13.2 billion, up 4.7%.
Online gambling continues to drive much of this growth. Remote casino, betting and bingo generated £8.3 billion, up 6.9%, with online casino accounting for £5.7 billion.
However, one figure deserves closer attention: new online registrations fell by 3% to 32.4 million.
The market is growing in value, but the number of new registrations is falling. For marketers, this creates a more challenging environment. Simply increasing reach or acquisition spend may not deliver the same results as it once did.
The opportunity is to build stronger brand recognition, reach the right audiences and create a more effective balance between attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
The regulatory changes introduced following the 2023 Gambling Act White Paper have reshaped the commercial landscape for UK operators.
Stake limits, affordability checks, a statutory levy and restrictions on promotional mechanics have all changed how brands can engage with customers.
For marketers, the implications extend beyond compliance. More restrictions and additional friction in the customer journey make audience selection, messaging and channel planning increasingly important.
When acquisition becomes more difficult, the answer isn’t necessarily to spend more. It’s to understand which audiences offer the greatest opportunity, where they can be reached and how advertising can support sustainable growth.
This also places greater importance on planning media around the full customer journey, rather than focusing exclusively on the final conversion.
The tax changes introduced in 2026 have added another layer of pressure. Remote Gaming Duty increased from 21% to 40% in April 2026, while a 25% duty on remote betting is scheduled for April 2027.
For online casino operators in particular, this represents a significant change to the economics of the business.
With margins under pressure, marketing budgets will inevitably face greater scrutiny. But cutting investment without considering its wider impact can create a different problem: reduced brand visibility at a time when competition for customers remains high.
When operators face similar cost pressures, competing on price and promotional offers becomes more difficult. Brand recognition, trust and customer experience become increasingly important ways to differentiate.
This is where effective media planning can make a tangible difference. Understanding the role each channel plays, how audiences respond and where investment delivers the strongest return allows brands to make more informed decisions about their budgets.
Football has long been a major visibility platform for gambling brands. However, the end of front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships across Premier League clubs from the 2026/27 season removes a significant opportunity for mass-market exposure.
The reported value of these deals was around £60 million a year, meaning brands now need to consider how best to replace that reach.
The challenge isn’t simply finding another channel to fill the gap. Sponsorship offers repeated exposure, broad visibility and an association with a familiar sporting environment. Replacing it effectively requires a broader understanding of audience behaviour and media consumption.
TV, video on demand, connected TV, digital audio and out-of-home can all play a role in rebuilding visibility, depending on campaign objectives, audience and budget.
The key is to avoid treating channels as direct replacements for one another. Each has a different role, and the strongest media plans consider how they work together to build awareness, reinforce brand messages and encourage action.
Licensed operators are also competing with offshore gambling sites that may not face the same UK regulatory requirements or tax obligations.
Estimates of the size of the unlicensed market vary, and the figures should be treated with care. However, the issue highlights the additional pressure on operators that must balance commercial performance with their regulatory responsibilities.
For legitimate brands, trust and recognition matter. Consistent, responsible advertising can help reinforce brand familiarity and distinguish established operators from less reputable alternatives.
This makes visibility an important consideration, even when budgets are under pressure. Reducing brand investment may create short-term savings, but it can also reduce the opportunities for customers to recognise and recall a brand when making a choice.
There is no single channel mix that will work for every operator. The right approach depends on the brand’s objectives, audience, budget and regulatory requirements. However, several principles should guide media planning in 2026.
1. Rebuild reach through a considered channel mix
With front-of-shirt sponsorships disappearing, brands should assess where their audiences spend time and which channels can deliver meaningful reach. TV, video on demand, connected TV, audio and out-of-home may all offer opportunities to maintain visibility beyond traditional sports sponsorship.
2. Balance brand building with performance
When acquisition costs rise, it can be tempting to concentrate investment on channels that deliver immediate, measurable responses. However, short-term activation works harder when supported by brand awareness and familiarity.
A balanced strategy should consider both immediate campaign results and the longer-term work needed to keep a brand visible, recognisable and relevant.
3. Make audience planning more precise
Affordability requirements and restrictions on promotional mechanics make it increasingly important to plan around appropriate audiences. Addressable TV and other audience-led media solutions can help brands make better use of their budgets, provided targeting is compliant and aligned with the relevant advertising rules.
4. Measure performance against the right objectives
Not every channel should be judged by the same metric. Reach and frequency can help assess awareness activity, while response and conversion metrics can help evaluate performance campaigns.
Looking at these measures together gives marketers a more complete view of campaign effectiveness than relying on cost per click or cost per acquisition alone.
5. Optimise while campaigns are live
Media planning shouldn’t stop once a campaign launches. Monitoring performance, understanding what is driving results and reallocating investment where appropriate can help improve efficiency over time.
The aim isn’t to chase the cheapest metric. It’s to understand which combination of channels and activity is contributing most effectively to the campaign’s objectives.
The UK gambling market remains valuable, but the conditions for growth are changing. Regulation is tighter, taxes are higher, traditional sponsorship opportunities are shifting and competition for customers remains intense.
For marketers, the answer isn’t simply to spend more or cut budgets. It’s to make better-informed decisions about where investment goes, how channels work together and what success looks like.
The brands best placed to navigate this environment will be those that understand their audiences, maintain visibility and balance short-term performance with long-term brand building.
At BBJ&K, we believe effective media planning starts with understanding the business challenge, not simply selecting channels. By combining audience insight, considered channel selection and ongoing optimisation, brands can make their media budgets work harder, even in a more challenging market.
If you’re reviewing your media strategy for 2026 or planning ahead for 2027, get in touch with the BBJ&K team to explore how a more considered approach to media planning could support your objectives.
Written by: Michael Dupree, Account Director
Sources: Gambling Commission industry statistics; HM Treasury and Office for Budget Responsibility; published operator financial guidance and betting shop closure announcements; Betting and Gaming Council; Premier League and DCMS; Thinkbox; Sky Media. Figures and regulatory details should be checked against the latest published sources before publication.
