IG Group plans UK prediction markets launch after $1.1bn Underdog deal and gambling licence application

IG Group is moving into UK prediction markets through its IG Consumer division, with a launch planned as early as the current quarter. For PSPs, acquirers and banking partners, the important part is not the branding exercise; it is that IG is explicitly trying to package prediction markets, crypto and traditional trading on one platform while the regulatory line between gambling and financial products is still not settled.

1. At its Capital Markets Event on October 22, IG Consumer chief executive Michael Healy said the business sees “strong appetite for prediction markets in the UK” and plans to combine prediction markets, cryptocurrency and traditional trading products on a single proprietary platform. That is a direct signal that IG is not treating this as a side product.
2. The UK launch would be led by IG Consumer, the group’s retail investing division, and IG said prediction markets are a natural extension of its existing offering. The company has not limited the idea to one niche either: it expects to expand the product to politics, entertainment and sports by early 2027.
3. The strategy follows IG Group’s acquisition of US daily fantasy sports and prediction markets operator Underdog in July in a $1.1bn deal. In other words, the UK plan is being built on an existing US playbook rather than from scratch.
4. One week before unveiling the prediction markets strategy, IG applied for a betting licence with the British Gambling Commission. That timing matters because it puts the company in the middle of the unresolved question over whether prediction markets should be treated as gambling products or financial instruments.
5. To support the rollout, IG plans a marketing campaign centred on helping customers “trade better”, with advertising scheduled to appear on UK television, including Sky Sports, from next month. For payment providers, that usually means a product mix that can move quickly between trading, betting and crypto rails, with all the usual questions about licensing scope and risk segmentation.

The sector is far more developed in the US than in Britain, which is exactly why IG’s move is worth watching. A FTSE 100-listed company trying to sit at the intersection of trading, betting and crypto tends to get regulators, acquirers and compliance teams into the same room sooner or later.