Although revenue at bet365 rose by double-digits, the company lost more than £69 million for the period ending March 2023. It was the company’s first recorded loss since 2003.
bet365’s revenues topped £3.4 billion, up 19 percent from the last reporting year. The 2022 FIFA World Cup gets some of the credit for the increase. The company also launched in Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisianna, and Ontario, Canada. While the new launches generated more revenue, they also drove up bet365’s costs – especially on promotions to acquire new customers. Acquisition costs, however, generally pay off in the long run. And in the short run, active customers on bet365 increased by 29% over the reporting period.
The company also introduced Fantasy Sports and Free-to-Play competition products during the reporting period. It also introduced two additional languages – French and Latin-American Spanish – to facilitate the company’s expansion plans.
bet365 currently sponsors four Premier League teams, including Leicester, Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, and Wolves. It is also a sponsor of Stoke City FC, which is owned by Peter and John Coates, minority owners of bet365. bet365 got its start in Stoke-on-Trent and is still headquartered there. So, Stoke City is bet365’s home team in more ways than one.
Despite the current loss, no one should feel too sorry for bet365’s primary owner. Billionaire Denise Coates is one of the wealthiest women in Britain. As bet365’s majority shareholder and joint CEO, she collected a paycheck of £221 million during the reporting period -- £7 million more than the preceding year. Meanwhile, the company still managed to donate £100 million to the Denise Coates Foundation. In the recent past, the foundation took some heat for cutting down on its donations, even as its coffers grew.
