One of the questions that most people have about the UK gambling business is who the biggest businesses are within it. There are certainly a lot of very popular sports betting and casino brands and names that most people will be able to think of, but are they really bringing in the large profits that everyone thinks they are?
We decided to take a closer look at who exactly are the big names in UK casino and sports betting, both offline and online. Here’s what we found out.
Ladbrokes-Coral
Just a few years ago, William Hill was knocked off the number-one spot when Ladbrokes and Coral merged together. Ladbrokes and Coral were the second and third biggest UK casino and betting companies, so when the two came together it was enough to make them the biggest by far. Ladbrokes is the UK’s biggest gambling company and both firms now own around 4,000 betting shops between them. They also have a very strong online presence.
William Hill
Once the biggest of all the UK sports betting companies, William Hill now has to be happy with just second place. It is still doing extremely well, though, as is has just over 2,300 shops and manages to earn £2 billion through revenues from its sports betting shops and online casinos. In 2002 the brand was sold for a very impressive £825 million and has since then been floating on the UK stock market.
Paddy Power Betfair
The two betting firms, Paddy Power and Betfair, merged in 2016, and the company has been going from strength to strength ever since. Paddy Power is fairly young for a bettering company as it was only founded in 1988. However, it really took off after the dawn of online gambling and is now a well-known brand with many online casino players. Betfair is even newer as it was launched in 2000 – as a result, they were the smaller party in the merger. Now that the to brands have joined forces, they certainly offer a lot to gamblers both offline and online.
Bet365 Group
Another relatively new player in the world of British gambling, Bet365 was established in 2000 and has really impressed gamblers so far. Even though it doesn’t have any betting shops, it still makes a considerable profit from its online betting options. They now have 20+ million online gamblers who use their site in over 200 countries. Bet365 has managed to build up a good reputation with customers and gambling insiders, so it has become one of the most reputable online casino and sports book brands in a relatively short amount of time.
Betfred
Betfred was first founded in 1967 and ran from a single betting shop in Salford. It has never been sold or merged in its history, but these days it boasts an annual revenue of £1 billion. Once known as the ‘Bonus King’ because of it’s generous no deposit casino bonus offers Betfred has come a long way since it’s humble beginnings. Right now, there are around 1,650 betting shops although most of the firm’s profits come from its online gambling features.
As you can see, there are some really big players in the UK gambling world, all of which are doing remarkably well.