Well, that certainly was a year. 2025 has been one of the most challenging the betting and gaming industry has faced for some time, certainly for us here in the UK, though various business opportunities have of course presented themselves.

The year started off with a bang as the new Brazil market launched, while prediction markets caused a stir in the US, and tax dominated the conversation in various European markets. With a handful of days in 2025 left, we’ve taken a look back at some of our personal highlights.

Dan Taylor, Flutter International

2025 was another bumper year for Flutter Entertainment, which closed two huge auctions, further establishing its spot as the world’s largest gaming PLC with market cap of US$29bn as of December 2025.

The past 12 months has seen a particular enlargement of its International business – which encompasses the UK and Ireland, other key Western European markets like Italy, the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Dan Taylor, CEO of Flutter International, walked SBC through his experience of the company’s global expansion over the past few years. The company’s extensive history with M&A, having been founded by a merger and expanded by some of the most high profile acquisitions in the industry, was of course on the agenda.

“M&A plays a key role in localisation, especially in markets where organic scale is harder to achieve, and through our federated model, with regional segments powered by specialist hubs, we can deliver local excellence backed by global firepower,” Taylor said.

Neal Menashe, Super Group

Interviewing another one of iGaming’s heavy hitters, shortly before his apeparnce at the SBC Summit Lisbon we had the chance to talk with Neal Menashe, CEO of Super Group – best known as the operator of the Betway sportsbook and Spin casino.

Super Group has been taking a different approach to other major iGaming PLCs, at least when it comes to geography. While many haven fixated on Brazil, for understandable reasons, Super Group has had its eye on different markets.

The company opted to stay out of Brazil, a market that has proven highly lucrative and valuable but also highly competitive. It also opted to fully withdraw from the US in July last year, though it remains active in Canada. So where does Super Group leadership see its future? Africa, says Menashe.

“We have close to three decades of experience in operating in multiple markets globally, and it gives us the insight to make strategic choices better than most of our competitors,” he told SBC.

“Our range of podium positions in African markets and our recent exit from the US market is testament to this approach.”

Nick Wright and Alex Henderson, Midnite

Midnite is a relative newcomer to UK gambling, but has been familiarising itself well with consumers this year through unique marketing and a focus on digital product innovation.

Nick Wright, the company’s CEO and Co-Founder, likened Midnite to fintech challenger Monzo in his conversation with SBC News. Similar to mobile banking apps like Monzo, the firm has a target audience in mind – digital natives.

“Customer expectations today are mobile-first, they want native products that just work,” he said. “I think we as an industry haven’t caught up with just what digital native expectations are.”

While it may be newer to the market than the legacy brands of Ladbrokes Coral, William Hill or Paddy Power, Midnite has still built up experience. Applying this experience to the rapid regulatory shifts and new tax challenges of the UK market is a hefty task for Midnite, something the firm’s VP of Compliance remarked requires a lot of agility.

“Newer brands, if anything, are often better positioned to adapt quickly. We’re not constrained by legacy systems or internal bureaucracy, which gives us the flexibility to build compliance into our processes from the ground up.”

Joe Lee, AK Bets

On the topic of challenger brands, back in April we had the chance to speak with Joe Lee, Head of Strategy and Performance at AK Bets. The Irish bookmaker had just made landfall in the UK, and was confident of finding success in one of the world’s most competitive markets.

Prices have been key to the firm’s approach, and this strategy would later pay off according to Oddschecker. The odds-comparison site praised AK Bets for having ‘the tightest sportsbook pricing on Premier League football’, vindicating something Lee told us two months prior.

“We’re also in a unique position where our customers can meet and interact with us across many of the UK and Ireland’s leading racecourses. AK Bets was born in the betting ring and we remain true to our roots and look forward to expanding further.”

Russell Colvin, EveryMatrix

The focus of today’s review has very much been on B2C firms, and it’s important not to forget just how vast the gaming ecosystem is. Consumer facing bookmakers, exchanges and casinos are supported by vast networks of B2B suppliers, while trade associations take on lobbying and political engagement, and charities carry out essential work.

Representing the supplier side of the industry, Russell Colvin, Commercial Director UK at EveryMatrix, spoke with us during the opening of the company’s new office in London during the summer.

The topic of the conversation? Horse racing, and the challenges facing it. The sport has been active in campaigning against tax this year, and has been battling attendance levels for several years, but EveryMatrix’s team is confident in racing’s continuing value. 

“On a personal level, I think horse racing is still an extremely exciting sport to bet on – you can place your bet and have the result within a couple of minutes,” Colvin said.

“I think if we can innovate within that market, within the racing product, and bring new products and features to it, hopefully we can look to not only make it more appealing to the younger generation, but also improve margins for operators with more derivative markets, products like bet builders and in-play, potentially.”