Is it game over for Ladbrokes’ Belgian branches?
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27 Oct 2025 •
Reading time: 3 minutes It’s a bombshell in the world of gambling. Ladbrokes Belgium, a long-standing player in sports betting, plans to cut nearly half of its workforce. This brutal restructuring is symptomatic of a sector in the midst of radical change.
Huge losses and a painful process
On 9 October, Ladbrokes Belgium announced the launch of a Renault procedure. The aim is to lay off 76 employees, or 47% of its workforce. The company, which has been operating in the country since 1970, cites cumulative losses of €24.2 million over five years. This financial haemorrhage can be explained by a steady decline in ‘hard’ betting and the rise of online gambling, which has been reinforced since the pandemic.
In just a few years, Ladbrokes’ territorial network has collapsed. The network has gone from 310 branches to 196 in Belgium. According to the Gaming Commission (GC), the company still holds nearly half of the physical market. But this dominance hides deep regional disparities: in Wallonia, 59% of branches display the famous red and white logo, compared to barely 20% in Flanders.
The geography of the network also reveals the fragility of the south of the country, where the majority of closures and job losses are expected. Trade unions denounce the ‘total lack of transparency’ on the part of management, which responds that staff representatives ‘refuse to agree to a rapid negotiation schedule’.
A changing sector: digital takes the lead
Ladbrokes is also struggling because the nature of the market has changed. The GC’s 2023 annual report shows a historic shift: online gambling now accounts for 55% of the gambling market, compared with 45% for physical gambling.
Before the health crisis, the trend was the opposite. In 2019, 60% of bets were still placed in branches. In 2023, this figure had fallen to just 39%. In other words, nearly two-thirds of bets are now placed online.
Faced with this digital revolution, Ladbrokes’ rivals are faring better. Betcenter Group, for example, after a profit of €4.3 million in 2023, suffered only a limited loss of €1.6 million in 2024. Bingoal Retail, a smaller company, is maintaining a fragile balance, with only €7,000 in losses in 2024 after a record profit the previous year.
In comparison, Derby SA, the company operating Ladbrokes in Belgium, posted losses of £28 million in 2024.
A business model in question
Online betting is not only cheaper, it also generates more revenue. In 2023, 61% of the sector’s revenue came from digital sources. This observation is prompting many companies to review their strategy. Entain, owner of Ladbrokes, could focus on developing its digital platforms, which are more profitable and less restrictive.
The coming months will be decisive for Ladbrokes employees. While awaiting the outcome of the Renault proceedings, trade unions are calling for greater transparency and social guarantees.
The Ladbrokes case illustrates a broader trend: the accelerated digitisation of gambling, which is profoundly reshaping the sector. Between nostalgia for betting at the counter and the promise of online gambling, Belgium finds itself at a crossroads.