MGM Reportedly Lines Up a Fresh Run at Entain

One of the longest-running takeover sagas in gambling may be heating up again. Reports indicate MGM Resorts is exploring another move on Entain, the FTSE-listed operator that is also its partner in the BetMGM joint venture. Nothing is confirmed, but the chatter is loud enough to move the market and revive a courtship that has dragged on for years.

The Reported Bid

According to May 2026 reports, MGM has been working with private-equity firms on a possible offer, with Apollo Global Management and CVC Capital Partners named as potential backers. Bringing in outside money would let MGM swallow a target the size of Entain, which it has circled before without ever closing the deal. Private-equity involvement would also spread the financial risk of a deal worth tens of billions, the kind of cheque a casino operator cannot comfortably write alone.

A Deal That Keeps Coming Back

This would not be the first attempt. MGM made a run at Entain in early 2021 that went nowhere, and more recently DraftKings floated an offer that started at $20.5 billion and was raised to $22.4 billion before being rejected. Entain has spent years being courted, and its board has a track record of holding out for more. The company has also been through boardroom upheaval and pressure from activist investors, which keeps a fresh approach permanently on the table.

Why MGM Wants It

The logic centres on BetMGM. Owning Entain outright would hand MGM full control of the venture rather than half, including the technology and the international footprint that sit behind it. BetMGM holds roughly 14% of US gross gaming revenue and generated an estimated $2.7 billion in net revenue in 2025, so the prize is a controlling stake in a top-tier US online business plus a sprawling European one. Right now MGM has to share both the profits and the decisions, an arrangement it has never looked entirely happy with.

There is a strategic angle too. MGM is a Las Vegas casino giant with a comparatively thin online presence outside the joint venture, while Entain owns a deep stable of betting brands across Europe and beyond. Folding the two together would give MGM a genuine global digital arm to sit alongside its resorts, the kind of reach rivals like Flutter and DraftKings already enjoy. That gap is a big part of why the company keeps circling back.

Timing Is Everything

The reported interest lands right as the 2026 World Cup drives the biggest betting surge the sector has seen, a backdrop that tends to flatter operator valuations. A buyer eyeing Entain has to weigh whether to move before the good times lift the price further, or wait and hope sentiment cools. The tournament cuts both ways for would-be acquirers, and Entain shareholders will not want to sell cheap with record betting volumes rolling in.

What It Means

Treat this one as speculation until a formal approach appears, because Entain has fielded plenty of interest that never turned into a deal. Still, the recurring rumours point to an industry where consolidation pressure keeps building. The biggest names want scale, full ownership of their tech stacks and a clean run at the US market, and Entain remains one of the few assets that delivers all three at once. Sooner or later, someone is likely to land it. For players, a deal would not change much overnight, since BetMGM would keep running as it does today. The bigger consequence would be felt across the wider market, where one fewer independent giant means a little less competition at the very top, and that tends to show up eventually in the size of the bonuses and the sharpness of the odds.