1. bet365 (2018)
01: Bet365 (01)
Financials: A 26% rise in full-year revenue to £2.7bn was a remarkable feat for a business that was already lapping the field, while profits also jumped year-on-year
Strategy & impact: Company still benefits from its proprietary sportsbook platform and continues to lead the way in in-play sports betting
Geographic reach: Occupies a leading position in regulated markets including the UK, Italy and Spain, as well as a sprawling reach across some greyer markets
Influence & leadership: The operator’s product sets the standard while its impact is also felt across the industry in areas like horseracing margin and offers
Not many companies walk the walk quite like bet365. The operator is notoriously media-shy, but its power and influence are unparalleled in the online gaming industry. Just ask New York casino owner Empire Resorts, which recently announced it had partnered with bet365 for sports betting in the state and promptly saw its share price increase by 70%.
The Stoke-headquartered firm was described by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming as the “800lb gorilla in the room” in the US market, and the operator has already laid down the groundwork for entry into at least two states. So what can US customers expect? Quite simply the slickest mobile product on the market with an enormous array of betting markets and live streaming options.
If recent years have been about innovating with features like Quick Bet, Auto Cash Out and Edit Bet, 2018 appears to have been about making these products lightning fast and intuitive to use. That said, the operator was still one of the first to come out with an automated Bet Builder product.
Bet365 has topped this list for nine consecutive years but continues to show no signs of slowing down after another year of hugely impressive growth from an already massive base. Critics might point to some grey market growth there, which BDO factors into its financial score, but even in the fiercely competitive UK betting market bet365 is dominant. In fact, Oddschecker had to start leaving the operator out of its click-share graphs because it was so far ahead of other operators that it was literally off the charts with a normal x-axis.
The trend is replicated around the world, with bet365 also one of the largest betting operators in Italy, while the company has big plans for Sweden with a reported 26% rise in its marketing spend for the country ahead of re-regulation next year. Even the challenging market Down Under is slowly being conquered.
In a way it’s a shame bet365 is so media-shy, because it’s got a phenomenal story to tell. Here’s a company that has built a world-leading technology business from scratch and has shaped an entire industry. One major European land-based bookmaker in the midst of overhauling its online business told his team recently: “Just build me bet365.” If only it were that easy.