bet365 sportsbook has joined the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), a union formed by four of the top sports betting operators in America.
The company joins founding members FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Fanatics as the first new entrant since the organization was formed in 2021.
Key takeaways
- bet365 has been increasingly focused on expanding in the U.S.
- Fanatics and bet365 have eaten into the audiences of BetMGM and Caesars
- A study found that American bettors aged 21-34 preferred bet365 to its competitors
bet365, headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent in the U.K., was slow to infiltrate the American market. It’s now available in 13 jurisdictions and has plans for growth, a sentiment it confirmed by joining the Alliance.
“bet365 shares the SBA’s commitment to a regulated, transparent and sustainable U.S. online gaming market,” SBA President Jeremy Kudon said in a statement. “Together, we’ll continue fighting for more states to swap their dangerous and unregulated sports betting and iGaming products for regulated, consumer-protected legal platforms.”
Gaming research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming published a report earlier this year which showed that bet365 and Fanatics have picked up steam in the American betting market to the detriment of BetMGM and Caesars, the members of the traditional “Big Four.”
bet365 already launched in Illinois and Tennessee in March and built an American headquarters in Denver, Colorado, the second state in which it was approved for operation.
Trip Stoddard, a bet365 spokesperson, said the company looks forward “to stamp[ing] out illegal and unregulated betting and bring[ing] regulated sports betting to all 50 states.”
Positive signs
bet365 said in January that its revenue growth, which included a nine percent overperformance of the previous year’s total, during the fiscal year that ended in March 2024 was largely driven by its North American market launches.
The company opened up shop in Arizona, Indiana and Pennsylvania last year and already secured a partnership with the St. Louis Cardinals ahead of the expected December launch of Missouri sports betting.
The British operator also exited the Chinese market and sold its stake in English soccer team Stoke City F.C. as part of a global refocusing.
More changes on the way?
The Sports Betting Alliance champions legal, regulated, and safe sports betting and iGaming. It’s gone to bat against tax hikes, such as the recent per-bet penalty implemented in Illinois, and helped weed out illegal offshore operators.
Adding bet365 to the organization brings more global political power, influence, and funding.
A 2024 YouGov survey also found that bet365, which had less than four percent of the national market share, was the top sportsbook among American bettors aged 21-34.
Amid all of the company’s moves, there could be none bigger than the sportsbook’s potential transfer of ownership. The Guardian reported in May that the billionaire Coates family, led by Denise Coates, who owns bet365 sought opinions from U.S. banks and advisors regarding a partial or complete sale.
