Aloha

How to play Aloha

Beynon says sports betting companies have suffered particularly badly because the market is questioning both future earnings and the size of the eventual opportunity. More iGaming-focused companies such as Rush Street Interactive and Super Group have generally performed better operationally, helped by stronger earnings growth and profitability.

The lesson is simple: gambling still attracts capital when the money is visible. It is less attractive when the payoff lies far in the distance.

The biggest new uncertainty in US sports betting is prediction markets. The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will legally wager $29.5 billion in betting handle through US regulated commercial sportsbooks during the 2026 NFL season, broadly unchanged from the $29.4 billion handle recorded in 2025. These figures refer to the amount wagered, not sportsbook revenue.

What is Aloha?

According to Done, such a tax rise would lead Betfred to close 495 of its shops within a year, resulting in the loss of 2,575 jobs and roughly £67 million in foregone tax revenue for the Exchequer.

Betfred has already shuttered 132 outlets this year, following last year’s RGD increase.

“We have tried hard to protect all our sites and the colleagues who work in them, but the combined impact of higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, increases in gambling taxes and wider economic uncertainty has left us with no choice,” said Chief Executive Jo Whittaker in a statement to iGB at the time the closures were announced.

How to play Aloha

Neither company has announced plans to seek an online betting licence in North Africa. The deal nevertheless highlights the divide in Morocco’s gambling market.

Land-based gambling can attract international investment. Cirsa expanded its Marrakech presence last November. Private online betting has no equivalent licensing route.

Cirsa’s own IPO prospectus is blunt about it: “Online gaming only exists for betting, which is operated by a state agency,” it says of Morocco, adding that online casino games “are not allowed”.