Despite achieving record revenues during Q4 2025, Gambling.com Group still remains apprehensive about its UK expansion efforts as “continued poor search dynamics and regulatory headwinds” continue to impact performance.
Publishing its Q4 results for the three months ended 31 December 2025, the marketing and sports data services provider reported a 31% year-on-year increase in revenues to $46.2m, a 19% rise in gross profits to $39.3m and adjusted EBITDA increases of 5% to a “fourth quarter record” of $15.5m.
Its sports data services accounted for the majority of the growth in revenues during the quarter, with revenue rising 440% year-on-year to $11.8m. Gambling.com Group explained that this was primarily due to the contribution from both OpticOdds and OddsJam – the former being its B2B provider of sports betting data and the latter its consumer facing app which helps users to find bets with good value
Meanwhile its marketing services division also continued its momentum in Q4, generating $34.4m in revenue – a 4% rise compared to the same quarter last year. Of note, the group explained that this was the first time that “more than 50%” of marketing services revenue was derived from sources not dependent on organic search referrals.
Charles Gillespie, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Gambling.com Group, commented: “We generated record fourth quarter revenue and Adjusted EBITDA with revenue rising 31% year-over-year to $46.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA increasing 5% to $15.5 million.
“Our operating results continue to benefit from significant growth in our sports data services business, which grew 29% quarter-on-quarter and represented 26% of total revenue in the fourth quarter, the highest percentage yet.
“This growth was complemented by improved performance in our marketing business, as revenue increased slightly year-over-year and rose 15% on a sequential basis. For the first time in our history, revenue not dependent on SEO exceeded revenue from SEO thanks to our successful channel diversification initiatives.”
Headwinds in the UK
The topic of gambling taxation in the UK is one that has continued to cast a shadow over many companies operating here, particularly when it comes to the question of future expansion. Gambling.com Group has been no exception.
Back in the November Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced that she would be almost doubling remote gaming duty from 21% to 40%, while general betting duty is also due to rise.
The increase in taxes will undoubtedly hit online casinos the hardest. For marketing services providers such as Gambling.com Group, this has presented a number of challenges, resulting in a more conservative outlook towards its UK operations.
The taxes mean that operators will ultimately have less margin to spend on marketing activity and customer acquisition, meaning that brands such as Gambling.com Group will need to get more creative in how they work with partners.
As noted in its results, adjusted EBITDA margin for the 2025 fourth quarter was a reflection of “the impact of the higher cost of sales and marketing expenses associated with traffic diversification initiatives for the marketing business”.
To compound this, organic search revenue in the UK has also been hampered by recent Google Core Updates. During Q4 2025, the group delivered 98,000 new depositing customers (NDCs), a substantial 32% drop compared to the 145,000 NDCs reported in Q4 2024.
As Gambling.com Group looks to continue diversifying its traffic sources, its management did note that it expects these “poor search dynamics” to persist at least through the first half of 2026. But with tax rises due to come into force in the imminent future, the way in which the company will offset these declines is yet to be determined.
A mixed bag for Europe
The UK isn’t the only market presenting its fair share of obstacles for Gambling.com Group. In Europe as a whole, the challenges persist.
Looking at Finland, the market is currently undergoing a process of completely overhauling its gambling laws – moving from a state-owned monopoly with Veikkaus to a more liberalised model where operators can apply for a licence.
The new regulations are due to take full effect in 2027, which is likely to have a knock-on effect for performance marketing as the regulator looks to fine tune when, where and how gambling operators and affiliates can advertise themselves to players.
To combat these European headwinds, Gambling.com Group noted that in 2026, it would be strategically pivoting away from its traditional ‘volume’ model and instead moving towards a more high-intent, subscription-based data – as evidenced by its acquisition of OddsJam and OpticOdds at the very beginning of 2025.
Continued momentum in the US
As expected, the North American market continued to be the driving force behind much of Gambling.com Group’s revenue growth in 2025 – and that doesn’t look like it’ll change any time soon.
During Q4, North America provided approximately $27.7m of the $46.2m revenue total – with the region alone reporting a 75% growth in revenue compared to last year, rising from $15.6m.
Unlike other affiliates, Gambling.com Group has leant heavily into the iGaming space within North America. While there are fewer states that have legalised online casinos, the group noted that iGaming players tend to have a higher lifetime value compared to sports bettors, resulting in stronger US margins compared to in the UK.
In its results, Gambling.com Group also noted that new state launches such as North Carolina and Vermont have continued to offer new growth opportunities, while its more established operations in states like Pennsylvania and New Jersey remain robust.
The OddsJam Effect
Gambling.com Group’s growth across the US during Q4 was, in part, driven by its integration of both OddsJam and OpticOdds – an acquisition that has fundamentally changed the brand’s US profile.
During the three month period of trading, Gambling.com Group reported that revenue within its sports data segment jumped by 440% to $11.8m. The acquisition, arguably, marked a pivot in the brand’s position towards the B2B space.
With both OddsJam and OpticOdds, Gambling.com Group is able to sell odds-comparison tools and real-time data to other media companies and diversify its presence within the sports betting space.
Gillespie added: “We expect full year top line growth to be led by OpticOdds, our enterprise sports data services business. The focus for 2026 will be on increasing our coverage of different sports and leagues to better address the needs of operators outside the US while also developing innovative new features for our anchor customers here in the US.
“Over the last several years we have significantly diversified our sources of revenue and the number of markets we address. This has positioned Gambling.com Group with a sports data services business which is fast growing, high-margin, high-visibility and powered by recurring subscription revenue – on top of a marketing business that, thanks to channel diversification and CRM, remains resilient and will continue to deliver significant free cash flow for many years to come.”