Gambling has always been a favorite form of adult entertainment within the UK.
Residents love to play lotteries, bingo, casinos games, bet on horses and enjoy playing casino games for real cash.
As big as the gambling industry was heading into 2020, no one could have predicted how the online gambling industry was going to grow exponentially because of the COVID19 pandemic.
As UK residents found themselves locked down during the pandemic, they went searching for fun things to do at home.
A lot of people chose to start wagering online, which led to 50%+ revenue growth within the UK online gambling industry in 2020. Additional growth materialized in 2021.
The Effect of Growth on Sports and Gambling Stocks
For decades, gambling has been big business in the UK.
Many of the major players in the industry have been and still are large publicly held gambling conglomerates.
Of course, there used to be a lot more companies from the past that were offering retail and online gambling services.
As is the case with other growing industries, some of the bigger names in the industry have been gobbled up via mergers and acquisitions to form even bigger gambling conglomerates.
There was a time in the not-so-distant past when companies like William Hill, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, and 888 ruled the UK gambling industry.
While the brands still exist, ownership has changed. The most recent casualty of an acquisition was William Hill.
They were acquired in 2021 by the U.S.-based Caesars Entertainment. It was an acquisition that made clear no company is untouchable for the right price.
As a reminder, William Hill spent 85+ years proving retail and online gambling services to gamblers all over Europe. Now, they are part of an American gambling/entertainment conglomerate.
Investing in the UK Gambling Industry
Given the growth top gambling providers have been experiencing over the last few years, some sports and gambling stocks have become very attractive as potential long-term investments.
With no end in sight to the growth of online gambling throughout the world, there are a few publicly held gambling conglomerates that still have plenty of room to grow in terms of revenue and their stock prices.
If by chance you are looking for somewhere to invest your winnings from your gambling endeavors among the UK’s casino companies not on GamStop, may we suggest investing in one or more of these three big stocks?
Flutter Entertainment (Symbol: FLTR)
Flutter Entertainment is technically the “new kid on the block” among the UK’s elite gambling conglomerates+, joining the industry in 2016.
They rose to the top of the heap through acquisitions and mergers.
The list of gambling brands they own and control includes Paddy Power, Betfair, Foxbet, Fanduel, and Pokerstars, just to name a few.
The company’s current market capitalization sits at over £22 billion.
That number easily supports the current stock price of 136 Euros per share. Note: The stock reached a high of 184.30 Euros in September of 2021.
Entain Holdings (Symbol: ENT)
Entain Holdings (formerly GVC Holdings) made big news recently when the U.S.-based BetMGM sports betting corporation made a play to acquire Entain for over £11 billion.
While the deal fell apart short of acquisition, it again served as a reminder that every company is a potential takeover target.
Entain owns and operates the following gambling brands: Bwin, Ladbrokes, Coral, PartyCasino, and PartyPoker, just to name a few.
Entain has a current market cap of approximately £9.9 billion. The current stock price sits at 1,661p. The stock hit its all-time high of 2,377p in September 2021.
Gamesys Group (Symbol: GYS)
Gamesys is a unique member of the UK gambling industry. The company’s primary focus is on the development and support of casino and sports betting software platforms.
The company’s top platforms are Excite and Enjoy.
The company does benefit from an exclusive partnership with Richard Branson and his Virgin Games and Virgin Casino brands.
Gamesys has a current market cap of just over £2 billion.
The current stock price sits at 1,850p, having hit an all-time high of near 2,000p in March of last year.
The company is also actively exploring the African market, where online gambling is booming in Nigeria for example, which will significantly increase monetisation in the coming years.
With all of these stocks off their all-time highs, investors might want to see the recent corrections as a buying opportunity.
All three of these stocks are priced reasonably based on their P/E index (price/earnings).
