Review: Rokker's prize-draw white paper exposes a sector outgrowing its regulatory frame

iGaming Business reports on Rokker's updated white paper on the UK prize draw competitions market, covering the sector's rapid consolidation, the lukewarm take-up of the new voluntary code, and the fallout from HMRC's VAT clarification. It is a useful snapshot of a market that sits outside the Gambling Act but is increasingly being sized up by regulated operators and investors.

Rokker estimates more than 1,000 operators are running prize draws, yet fewer than 20% have signed the DCMS voluntary code introduced in May 2026. That gap is the real story: the code is becoming a buyer's due-diligence shortcut and an indicator of M&A readiness, so non-signatories risk being left behind as deal activity accelerates past £220 million in known spend.

The piece lands at a moment of genuine uncertainty. HMRC's position that paid-entry draws are not VAT-exempt threatens margins and creates retrospective tax exposure, with at least one operator heading to tribunal. As iGaming Business notes, that risk is already being priced into transactions, with buyers seeking indemnities and adjusting multiples. As Qualstels partner Ben Gale puts it, "Buyers are using the voluntary code as a ready-made framework to assess whether a business is genuinely prepared for greater scrutiny."

The implications for the wider industry are clear. If the tax tribunal goes against operators, smaller businesses without compliance and tax mitigation infrastructure will face a choice between costly upgrades and a forced exit. Even if it does not, the combination of professional buyers, a new trade body and an emerging affiliate layer suggests statutory regulation is a matter of when, not if. For anyone tracking UK iGaming's regulatory frontier, the full white paper coverage at iGaming Business is worth reading.