IG Group seeks UK gambling licence for 2027 prediction market launch
IG Group plans to launch a UK prediction market, contingent on securing a gambling licence. The London-listed financial services firm intends to offer contracts on politics, entertainment, and sports. Sources differ on timing: one indicates before the end of 2026, another points to 2027. The move would mark the trading platform's entry into the UK event-contracts space, following its rollout of financial contracts. IG Group joins a growing field of operators seeking regulated routes into sports and political prediction markets as state legal pressure intensifies elsewhere.
IG Group's UK licence pursuit offers a regulatory hedge against the American legal chaos now engulfing its future competitors. Kalshi and Polymarket already face state attorney general attacks that have stripped federal preemption in Ohio and Tennessee, with Utah adding market maker Susquehanna to the docket. The UK Gambling Commission licence, if secured, would let IG Group offer sports and political contracts from a jurisdiction with clearer rules, drawing volume from traders wary of US market fragmentation.
That timing matters because the CFTC's swaps reclassification is months away while state courts move weekly. IG Group's London listing gives it regulatory credibility and capital access that offshore or start-up rivals lack. The first major operator to build a stable European book while American peers fight defensive legal battles will set the template for geographic diversification.