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About The Great Chicken Escape
The proposal also established criteria for risk classification of products and clarifying the obligations of operators and platforms. The measure would likely grant the illegal market the opportunity to continue expanding, as it would be unaffected by the new rules. The committee approved a request for urgency for analysis by the Senate Plenary.
Authored by Senator Damares Alves and six other senators, Bill 2.470/2026 amends the Betting Law, which regulates fixed-odds betting, with measures aimed at protecting mental health, consumers, and the family economy. The bill received a favourable opinion, in the form of a substitute from Senator Alessandro Vieira.
“This is a non-partisan initiative. It stems from society’s current understanding of the extent of the damage caused by so-called betting,” the rapporteur stated.
What is The Great Chicken Escape?
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.
Evoke also closed 200 of its William Hill stores in April of this year for the same reason.
What is The Great Chicken Escape?
In its market-specific breakdown, the report noted a “rapid reduction in channelling” in the UK, following the increased use of affordability checks.
The remote gaming duty hike from 21% to 40% in April is also expected to have a significant impact on the black market, with Regulus estimating it could drive the market to be worth up to €1 billion, as consumers choose illegal offerings to access unrestricted bonuses.
Other studies have made similar estimations. In June last year two thirds of bettors surveyed by YouGov said the tax increase, which will also hit online sports betting from next year, would drive them to play with unlicensed operators.
