Global gaming giant Entain reported a 2% year-over-year increase in group net gaming revenue during the third quarter of 2026, as customer-friendly sports results weighed on growth.
- Customer-friendly sports results hurt Entain’s net revenue and margins in August and September.
- The U.K./Ireland sector was a bright spot in growth for the gaming operator.
- Entain reiterated its FY2026 guidance, factoring in Brazil’s online gaming ban.
Entain said Thursday in its quarterly release that “customer-friendly football results in August and September more than offset July’s strong sports margin.” The down sports win was boosted by the group’s 8% year-over-year growth in iGaming.
“I am pleased with our Q3 performance, which reflects the strength of our execution and reinforces the resilience of our globally scaled business as well as its ability to consistently deliver high-quality growth,” Entain CEO Stella David said.
However, Entain, which owns half of BetMGM, reported a 3% decline in online sports NGR and a 1% decrease in sports wagers for the quarter ending Sept. 30 despite the period including the World Cup’s knockout stage.
BetMGM announced 7% year-over-year growth in online sports betting in Tuesday’s Q3 earnings report.
International dips
The Europe-based company’s revenue dip hit hardest abroad, as the International division reported a 4% year-over-year decline in total net gaming revenue, driven in part by market challenges in Brazil.
Sports net gaming revenue dipped 5%, while retail was down a steeper 7% despite a 13% increase in wagers.
iGaming net gaming revenue rose just 1%, while sports margins were down 0.2 percentage points. The division’s overall sports margin was “broadly flat” year over year compared with a weak Q3 2025.
Net gaming revenue in Brazil dipped 36% amid market challenges ahead of the government’s late-quarter online gambling ban. Italy was down 6% despite 9% year-over-year volume growth, while New Zealand, Canada, and Spain produced double-digit net gaming revenue increases to offset some of the declines elsewhere.
Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account
Profitable sector
Business in the U.K. and Ireland was another bright spot for Entain, creating an 14% year-over-year online net revenue spike. iGaming was up 17% behind a 15% volume increase. Online sports NGR rose a more modest 3%, while sports wagers increased 6%.
The division’s growth was ahead of expectations and reflected Entain’s “strategic execution and investment in the U.K., while digesting the increasingly challenging tax environment," the company said.
“Both online and retail are important parts of our business and valued contributors to tax revenues and local communities,” David said. “We strongly urge the U.K. government to carefully consider any further gambling tax increases which would threaten the viability of many shops, jobs and livelihoods.”
Staying the course
Entain reiterated fiscal-year guidance for 2026 in its Q3 release, announcing 4% to 6% expected growth in online net gaming revenue. Excluding Brazil, where the company assumes the online ban will be upheld for the rest of this year, online NGR could reach the 7% range.
Underlying EBITDA is projected to be at the lower end of the £910 million-to-£960 million ($1.2 billion-to-$1.27 billion) range, with the margin expected to be around 21%.
The initial sale of a 20% stake in the gaming operator’s Central and Eastern European business is expected to be completed during Q4. Entain said that while “potential impacts from forthcoming taxation and regulatory developments remain unknown,” the group plans to generate £500 million ($662.9 million) of annual adjusted cash flow in 2028.
“The underlying momentum we are seeing across our diverse portfolio supports our confidence in reiterating FY26 guidance,” David said. “I am confident our disciplined focus on growth and optimization will deliver strong future cash-generation, and that Entain remains well positioned to be a long-term industry winner.”
