Evoke Group Posts 2% Growth in 2025… But Cites Black Market Growth for Online Revenue Hit

The Evoke Group has posted positive financial results for 2025… but has warned of the damages being caused by black market operators.

Evoke, whose brands include William Hill and 888, enjoyed a 2% increase in their annual revenues last year, taking their group yield to £1.78 billion.

But a 3% drop in online revenue in the UK has led to the firm to cite ‘black market penetration’, particularly when it comes to horse racing betting, as a fundamental cause.

Consistent Operational Progress

The results confirm that Evoke have now posted five consecutive quarters of growth, as well as successive profitable years on an adjusted basis.

However, a reduction in online revenue will be a cause for concern, with the group’s financial reporting pointing to both operator-friendly sports results in 2024, as well as illegal operators taking up market share, as two of the critical factors behind the drop-off last year.

Research has found that around £2.7 billion is wagered by UK punters with black market bookmakers every year, with around one in every 12 turning to an unlicensed operator when placing their bets.

In their plans for 2026 and beyond, Evoke chiefs are mildly bullish. In the first quarter of the year, the group is ahead of management expectations with a 5% growth year on year, which has been driven largely by an 8% uptick in online gaming revenues.

Online gains have also been made internationally, with Evoke posting record revenues in both Italy and Denmark.

But tough decisions in the wake of the UK gambling tax increases, the phase-in of which started this month, will mean that around 270 William Hill shops will be closed in the months ahead.

Described as mitigation against those regulatory headwinds, Evoke believe the closures will ‘deliver significantly improved retail profitability and enhance long-term sustainability.’

“Throughout 2025, we delivered consistent operational progress resulting in a more efficient, focused and disciplined business delivering improved marketing returns, stronger cost control, enhanced operating leverage, and a step-change in underlying profitability,” said Evoke CEO, Per Widerstrom.

But he warned of the dark clouds approaching for the wider industry, with the government’s tightened regulation and taxation to blame.

“However, the significant UK duty increases announced in November represented a fundamental shift in the economics of our largest market and will have a substantial impact across the regulated industry,” Widerstrom cautioned.

Strategic Review

It was back in November that the Evoke Group enacted an emergency strategic review.

That came in the days after the chancellor’s autumn budget, which saw tax rate rises from 15% to 25% on online betting and from 21% to 40% on online gaming.

The firm was to consider a range of options in a bid to ‘maximise shareholder value’, which included the possibility of the sale of individual brands within the group or the entire Evoke estate.

Movement has been made on that front. Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Evoke chiefs were in discussions with the Greco-American firm Bally’s Intralot, with the possibility of a sale that valued the group at 50p per share – for a total sale price of £225 million.

In their address to shareholders as part of their financial reporting, Evoke revealed that the negotiations were ongoing, although there was ‘no certainty that a firm offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any such offer might be made.’

Bally’s Intralot, as per City rules, have until 5pm GMT on May 18 to declare whether it intends to make an offer or not.