Entain is planning to close 39 Ladbrokes betting shops in the Republic of Ireland after talks to sell its Irish retail estate ended without a deal. The company has started consultation with affected staff, and 226 jobs are at risk if all of the closures go ahead.
The scale is hard to miss. Ladbrokes has just over 100 shops in Ireland, so the move would wipe out more than a third of its estate there. If the plan goes through, the company says it will still employ more than 350 people across 66 shops in the country.
The sale route failed, so Entain cut the estate instead
Entain had been in talks with Bar One Racing about a potential sale of the whole Ladbrokes retail business in Ireland. Those discussions ended without agreement, and the fallback was a much smaller footprint rather than a handover of the full estate.
The company’s explanation was direct. Ladbrokes said the planned closures reflect sustained cost pressure, long-term changes in customer behavior, and stronger competition from the unlicensed market. That is a familiar set of complaints in betting retail, but Ireland now has one of the bigger examples of it.
Ireland’s betting shop market is getting smaller
The move follows other shop closures in the sector. Flutter set out plans last year to close 57 Paddy Power shops across Ireland and Northern Ireland, showing that this is not a Ladbrokes-only problem. Retail betting shops are still under pressure from online migration, higher operating costs, and illegal competition.
For Entain, the Irish business is not disappearing. But the idea of a full retail sale has gone, and the replacement is a sharper retreat. That leaves Ladbrokes staying in Ireland with a much smaller shop base and a tougher view of what the market now supports.
