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UK top 3 brands lose 5.7 p.p. of search share as 400 brands split demand
Britain’s search demand is shrinking and splitting at once, and projected revenue is starting to follow it out of the licensed market.
UK search demand fell for a third straight month in September 2026 and ended 14% below a year earlier, according to Blask Index. Over the same 12 months, the number of brands drawing UK demand rose from 356 to 400.
The three largest brands — Bet365, William Hill and Ladbrokes — held 26.6% of search in September against 32.3% a year earlier. Most of that loss sits with the top two, and Bet365’s decline starts from a September 2025 base close to its yearly peak. The erosion is older than this autumn: the top three have stayed below 29% in every month of 2026, after sitting above 30% in 11 of 12 months of 2025.
Remote Gaming Duty rose to 40% on 1 April 2026, and the Gambling Commission acknowledged in February that government had already flagged the illegal market among the likely effects. Offshore brands took 4.2% of UK demand in September, up from 2.7% a year earlier. Their share of CEB (Competitive Earning Baseline, projected revenue) climbed to 14.8% from 12.1%, after breaking above its 2025 range in February — two months before the new rate.
Market CEB reached $974M in September, 2% above a year earlier. Offshore CEB grew 25% to $144M while the onshore total slipped 1%, so the entire year-on-year gain went to brands without a UK licence.
Britain’s licensed core still holds 85% of projected revenue, but it is shrinking inside a market that offshore brands keep moving into. The next tax step — a 25% duty on remote betting from April 2027 — will test whether that shift stays at the margin.