British online gambling company
Bet365 Group Ltd (commonly known and stylized as bet365 and spoken as "bet three-six-five") is a British💸 online gambling company based in the United Kingdom.
It was founded by Denise Coates, who remains the majority shareholder and joint-chief💸 executive alongside her brother, John.
Overview [ edit ]
Bet365 is an online gambling company offering sports betting and casino type games.
In💸 addition to the company headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, Bet365 have further offices in Manchester, Gibraltar,[2] Malta,[3] Bulgaria and Australia.
The group employed💸 over 4,000 people as of 2020.[4][5]
Bet365 is a trading name of Hillside (New Media) Ltd.
[6] and operations including payments through💸 the affiliate programme[7] are carried out under that name.
History [ edit ]
Bet365 was founded in 2000 in a portable building[4]💸 in Stoke-on-Trent by Denise Coates.
Denise developed a sports betting platform and trading team to launch the business online in March💸 2001.
The business borrowed £15 million from Royal Bank of Scotland against the family's betting shop estate which had been started💸 by Peter Coates in 1974 and had been run by Denise Coates as managing director from 1995.
Bet365 sold its betting💸 shop chain in 2005 for £40 million to Coral and paid off its loan to RBS.[8]
Bet365 chairman Peter Coates was💸 also the chairman at Stoke City and in May 2012 Bet365 signed a three-year contract with the club to become💸 shirt sponsors.
[9] In April 2016, the company became the new title sponsors for the club's stadium for the next six💸 seasons, replacing fellow local enterprise the Britannia Building Society.
[10] In the summer of 2016, Bet365 also signed shirt sponsorship deals💸 with Bulgarian clubs Ludogorets Razgrad and Slavia Sofia for the upcoming two seasons.
[11][failed verification]
Bet365's reported figures (March 2020-21) showed revenues💸 of £2.
8 billion and a profit of £470 million before tax.[12]
Denise Coates, joint chief executive, continues to run Bet365 and💸 is the majority shareholder with 50.1% of the shares.
Her brother John, joint chief executive, runs the business alongside her, with💸 her father Peter holding the position of chairman.
In the summer of 2019, the largest UK bookmakers and online casino operators💸 William Hill, GVC Holdings, Flutter Entertainment, Stars Group and Bet365 entered into an agreement to transfer funds to combat gambling💸 addiction.
They agreed to increase the amount from 0.
1% to 1% of gross income in the next five years.
The initiative was💸 welcomed by a harm reduction group, but also received criticism for its perceived inadequacy; one MP described it as "a💸 bribe to appease campaigners and the UK government".[13]
Tax payment [ edit ]
At the end of the latest financial period, Bet365💸 official website Bet365 reported revenue of £3.
4 billion, as revealed by BetHub.
Compared to the previous fiscal year, there was a💸 2.
9 per cent increase in revenue.
As income tax in the UK comes back with profits, it is 45% for Bet365.[14]
For💸 2022, it is estimated that the company has paid £1.75 billion in tax.
Overseas operations [ edit ]
In 2018, shortly after💸 the U.S.
Supreme Court ruling on sports betting allowed U.S.
states to regulate sports betting, Bet365 announced plans to launch in the💸 United States starting with the state of New Jersey with a partnership with Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic💸 City.
[15] The company would later announce in September 2021 that Bet365 will launch in Colorado with a licensing and revenue💸 share deal with Century Casinos.
Bet365 opened up operations in Colorado on 6 September 2022.[16][17]
In April 2022, Bet365 was also launched💸 in Ontario after it was approved by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to conduct sports betting activities in💸 the province following the passing of a new Canadian law that legalized single-game betting.[18]
Awards and achievements [ edit ]
At the💸 eGaming Review Operator Awards 2010 organised by eGaming Review magazine, Bet365 won the "Operator of the Year" award.
[19] Bet365 ranked💸 third in The Sunday Times Profit Track 100 league table, which ranks private companies in the UK based on profit💸 growth rate.
[20] Bet365 was also ranked as one of the fastest growing privately owned technology, media and telecoms companies in💸 The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 league table.
eGaming Review magazine has ranked Bet365 the number one Internet gaming company in💸 2010, 2011 and 2012 as part of its annual Power 50 list of the top 50 most influential Internet gaming💸 companies.
[21] Denise Coates, founder and joint CEO of Bet365, received a CBE in the 2012 Queen's new year honours list💸 for services to the community and business.
[22] In February 2013 Denise Coates was named as one of the 100 most💸 powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour at BBC Radio 4.[23]
In December 2022, Bet365 won the coveted SBC💸 Bookmaker of the Year for the third consecutive year.
Controversies [ edit ]
In October 2014, The Guardian newspaper reported that the💸 company had been taking bets from Chinese citizens by using obscure domain names in order to avoid government web censorship.[24]
In💸 2016, Bet365 was fined $2.
75 million AUD by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for misleading advertisements which falsely promised💸 "free bets" to customers.[25]
Denise Coates became the highest paid executive in the UK in 2017, awarding herself a salary of💸 £217m.
[26] In 2018, her pay packet rose to £265m as the company reported profits up 31% to £660m, prompting criticism💸 from problem gambling charity groups.
[27] In January 2019, Bet365 ranked second on The Sunday Times list of the UK's top💸 taxpayers, with the Coates family – Denise, John and Peter – paying an estimated total tax of £156 million, of💸 which £99 million was paid by Denise alone.[28]
Further criticism highlights repeated cases of Bet365 delaying or outright denying payment to💸 winning players.
For example, Bet365 was taken to court for refusing to pay over £1 million in winnings to a horse💸 bettor in Northern Ireland in 2017.
[29] The company refused a payout of £54,000 to a customer in England in 2016,💸 a case which is still ongoing as of 2017.
[30][31] In Australia, Bet365 froze the account of a punter who had💸 won around $200,000 AUD in 2016, refusing to pay out.
[32] These are just some of the most noteworthy instances; several💸 more cases of Bet365 refusing to pay winnings have been reported by gamblers on Internet gambling forums.[33][34]
Although gambling is illegal💸 in most jurisdictions of India, Bet365 nonetheless conducted surrogate advertising in the country.
India's consumer affairs ministry served notices to various💸 television channels and apps for promoting gambling companies and asked them to stop showing ads from Bet365 and other betting💸 platforms immediately.[35]Media [ edit ]
In the UK, the face of Bet365, since 2010, has been actor Ray Winstone.[36]
