Updated: 24.08.2025
Sports betting is a hugely profitable business in the UK. This is not only true for the operators offering the bets, but also for the government. Bet365, for example, was the second largest taxpayer in the entire UK in 2019, paying around £156 million. Of course, if we get a little more precise, there are technically dozens of brands that you can find operating on a large scale within the UK. And really, most of them don't make much of a dent in terms of overall profits and tax revenues. In this article you'll learn about the biggest betting companies in the UK, and probably in Europe as well.
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MIN. deposit : 5 Free daily odds boost Highly prestigious brand |
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| 18+ New UK+IRE customers. Paypal and certain deposit types and bet types excluded. Min £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4 x £5 free bets. Free bets valid for 7 days on sports, stake not returned, restrictions apply. T&Cs apply, | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Wide range of offers Price boosts each day |
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| £10 min deposit using promo code 200BONUS • The bonus will be applied once the full deposit amount has been wagered at least twice with cumulative odds of 1.50 or greater • To withdraw any winnings from your bonus, you must wager the bonus amount at least 5 times • All deposit and bonus wagering requirements must be completed within 60 days • This offer may not be combined with any other offer • Wagering limit of £50 per bet Applies • Restrictions apply to withdrawals, payment methods and countries & full T&Cs apply. | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 5 Extra places and BOG Correct4 football game |
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| 18+ Eligible UK+IRE players. Paypal & some deposit & bet types excl. Min first £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 = 4x £5 free bets. Free bets valid for 4 days, stake not returned. No cashout, restrictions + T&Cs apply. | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Very well-regarded bookie Fantastic range of offers |
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| For new customers only - Bet £10 & Get £50 in Free Bets for new customers at bet365. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Innovative social features Free soccer betting tips |
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| New UK, IE & Malta users only. Min. £10/€10 first deposit only using Debit Card or Trustly. Free bets expire in 90 days. T&Cs apply. | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Outstanding track record Fixed odds & spread betting |
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| Don’t miss our exclusive World Cup offers for new and existing customers. Terms apply. Full details available here. | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Excellent track record New Bet Boost each day |
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| New customers using Promo code H30 only, Min £10/€10 stake, min odds 1/2, free bets paid as 2 x £15/€15, free bets credited after settlement of first qualifying bet, free bets will expire 30 days after the qualifying bet is placed, payment method/player/country restrictions apply. See full terms below. | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 30 Specialise in horse racing Boost on football accas |
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| 21+, new UK + IRE members only. Min deposit £10. Singles, win part of e/w or multiples at odds of evens (2.0) or greater qualify. The Free Bet must be placed at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater. Free bets expire in 7 days. The Free Bet stake is not included in the returns . Additional T&Cs apply. Bet responsibly. | |||||
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| 18+ New Customers opt in, bet £5 & get 2x £10 Free Bets for set events (odds 2.00+) + £10, Slots Bonus, selected games, 35x wagering to withdraw max £250. Bonuses expire in 7 days. Card Payments only. T&Cs Apply | BeGambleAware®: Gambling Help & Gambling Addiction | BeGambleAware | Please gamble responsibly | |||||
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| New customers only. Max one free £15 bet. Qualifying bets must be placed at odds of 1/1 (2.0) or greater. Paid as bonus token with min 4/5 (1.80) odds req. Skrill, Neteller & PayPal not eligible. T&Cs apply. 18+ | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Deep in-play section Widespread racing streams |
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| *New members. £10 min deposit & bet on sportsbook, placed & settled at 1.5 min odds within 14 days of sign-up. Win part of E/W bets. 2 non-withdrawable £10 Free Bet Tokens: accept in 7 days, valid for 7 days from acceptance (ex. E/Ws & Multiples), stakes not returned. Click here for Rules & Exclusions. Bet Responsibly. BeGambleAware.org | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Increasingly popular site Free bet refunds on racing |
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| 18+ begambleaware.org; New bettors get 50% of deposit up to £50; Once per household; Min deposit £15 (no Skrill/Neteller); Wager a total of 8 times deposit + bonus, with max qualifying bet stake equal to your initial bonus amount; Bonus expires after 60 days; Min odds of 4/5 on singles, or 2/5 per leg for acca; Some bet types excluded; See full terms; See full terms; Terms apply; 18+ | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 5 Famous Free Bet Club #BetYourWay for football |
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| New UK customers only. Min Deposit: £5. Maximum Free Bet: £30. First bet on a Football or Horse Racing multiple with 3+ selections. Overall odds: 3.00 (2/1) or higher. Free Bets available upon settlement of the qualifying bet. Debit card deposits only. This is offer is valid for 7 days from your new account being registered. 18+ BeGambleAware.org Full terms apply. | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Boosted specials on football Various free bet offers |
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| Get a Free Bet up to £35 based on 50% of your first days losses plus 10 Free Spins! UK 18+ T&C's apply. | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Money-Back football deal Exceptional mobile apps |
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| Terms apply | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 Acca protection & boosts Wide range of deals |
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| 18+, Welcome Bonus: New Players only, 1st Deposit, Min Deposit: £10, max £15 bonus, valid for 14 days, bets must be placed at a min. odds of 1/1 (2.00) or greater and be settled within 14 days of placement. System bets no eligible. Full T&Cs apply | |||||
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MIN. deposit : 10 New specials bets each day Multiple acca promotions |
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| New UK customers (Excluding NI) only. Mobile exclusive. Min stake £10. Min odds Evs. Free bet applied on 1st settlement of any qualifying bet. 30 days to qualify. Free bets expire in 7 days. Cashed out/Free Bets won’t apply. Payment method restrictions. 1 Free Bet offer per customer, household & IP Address only. 18+. T&Cs apply.**18+. Opt in. UK/IRE customers only. Max refund £/€20. Win or win part of e/w outright singles only. 5 or more runners. 1st bet on each race. Free bet expires after 7 days. Free/void/antepost bets don’t qualify. T&Cs apply | |||||
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| 18+ New Customers only. Deposit, opt in and place a £5 qualifying bet at odds of 2.00 or greater within 7 days of opening a new account; excludes cashed out bets. Receive 2x £10 Free Sports Bets, valid on set events only at odds 2.00 or greater, expires in 7 days. Plus a £10 Game Show Bonus, selected games, wager 40x to withdraw a max of £250. PayPal and Card Payments only. Geographical Restrictions and T&Cs Apply, See Below. Please Gamble Responsibly. | |||||
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| New UK customers only. Register using the promo code BETFRED60, deposit and place first bet of £10+ on Sports (cumulative Evens+) within 7 days of registration. First bet must be on Sports. £20 in Free Bets to be used on Sports, £10 in Free Bets to be used on Lotto and 50 Free Spins (20p per spin) credited within 48 hours of bet settlement. Further £20 in Free Bets credited 5 days after settlement. Bonuses have a 7-day expiry. Payment restrictions apply. SMS verification and/or Proof of I.D and address may be required. Full T&Cs apply. Terms & Conditions Apply | |||||
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| 18+, Welcome Bonus: New Players only. Valid on 1st deposit only. Min Deposit £10. Max Free Bet £40. Min turnover of £20 must be placed at odds of 1/1 or greater, and settled within 14 days of placement. System bets not eligible. PayPal, Skrill and Neteller deposits not eligible for promotion. Click to see full T&Cs | |||||
Our list of the biggest bookmakers in the United Kingdom is not something we pulled out of the air. Rather, it is the result of serious research and a number of well-defined parameters. Here are the key criteria we used to create our rankings.
Revenue Determining the size of the largest betting companies is a relatively simple task. Their total revenue is a matter of public record. Revenue figures are the most common way to size a company and gauge its financial health. Most people understand that revenue is a direct indicator of how much money a company is making. The more revenue, the better. Right?
If a betting company is publicly traded, like most of those on our list, they have to shout from the rooftops, in public, for all their shareholders to see, how much money they are bringing in. When it comes to Betfair - our only private company in this ranking - the contents of its financial statements are also a matter of public courtesy.
Profit This is the net profit a betting company makes when it subtracts its costs from its revenue. The gap between revenues and actual profits can be large. For example, while William Hill made £1.58 billion in revenue in 2019, it only made £147 million in profit. For betting companies that are traded on public markets and have outside investors as shareholders, being able to report a solid bottom line can be very important.
Number of users Unlike their revenue, the largest online gaming companies are not required to disclose the exact number of users they have. Some brands choose to give us at least a ballpark figure when asked, but others would just as soon keep that information under wraps. For what it's worth, William Hill claims to have taken in more than three million online bets in an average month for 2019 (which would grossly underrepresent their user numbers, as a punter bets on average once every 8.8 days), and Betfair claims to have over four million total users, with 1.1 million of those users betting at least once a month.
Number of Employees Employee numbers are much harder to come by, so when it comes to seeing how many actual people each brand on our list employs, we can get a pretty solid picture. More obviously means less obviously means more employees equals larger operations. A word of caution though, bookmakers with hundreds of high street shops, like Betfred, will usually have many more employees. But with brick-and-mortar profits on the decline, having more employees doesn't mean these companies are making more money than those with fewer employees.
Individual Brands Companies like Bet365, William Hill and Betfred are undeniably reputable and successful in their own right. They simply cannot compare to companies like Flutter that have managed to combine several giant brands. Taken together, Paddy Power and Betfair would be two of the largest companies in the sports betting industry. When you try to figure out the gross operating size of their merged entity, Flutter Entertainment, you see why Flutter is blowing every other company in the space out of the water.
Leading sportsbooks do not operate in isolation. Instead, they are always part of a larger operation. At the very least, this will involve one operating company. At the higher levels, however, it may be a single betting company that controls a number of different brands. If each of those brands is very successful in its own right, that's when the total revenue becomes stratospheric. There are seven betting companies that stand out from the crowd. Let's take a closer look at each of the biggest betting sites in turn.
In addition to Paddy Power and Betfair, the group includes Sky Betting in the UK, FanDuel in the US and Sportsbet.com.au in Australia.
In addition to a handful of other sportsbooks, it operates the well-known Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars sites, as well as 600 physical brick-and-mortar bookies.
In May 2025, Flutter Entertainment became the largest single betting company in the UK following the merger with The Stars Group. Flutter Entertainment plc is part of the gaming and entertainment industry. This company operates on a global scale and has a diverse portfolio of brands that cater to betting customers. As mentioned above, it is a public company traded on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FLTR.
Flutter Entertainment at a glance:
Sources : Flutter Entertainment plc – 2025 Preliminary Results, Macrotrends
Like Flutter Stars, you probably don't know the name 'Entain', but you're probably familiar with the betting brands it operates.
The company was originally founded in 2004 as Gaming VC Holdings (GVC Holdings) in Luxembourg, a place not usually known as a betting hotspot. Over the next nine years, they moved to the tax-friendly Isle of Man in the UK, launched their own sportsbook, and began acquiring other brands. They acquired Sportingbet in 2013, then Bwin in 2016. They reached something of a saturation point with conglomerate acquisitions when they acquired Ladbrokes Coral Group PLC in 2018. They rebranded as Entain in December 2020.
Entain's biggest brands in the UK are Ladbrokes and Coral, and the combined industry experience they bring to the segment is measured in decades. In addition to being a sports betting operator, Entain (formerly GVC Holdings) also runs an online poker business, among other brands, and its revenue in 2019 was about £3.22 billion. That was before the pandemic boosted online profitability. Entain employs about 2,800 people, and its operations, including several subsidiaries, are headquartered in the Isle of Man.
Today, Entain is one of the largest gaming companies in the world, with a presence in 27 countries and nearly 20 offices on five continents. Entain plc is a public company; it is also a company traded on the London Stock Exchange, known for its listing under the LSE: ENT.
Entain at a glance:
Source: Entain Group Full RNS FY20 Final
Founded in 2000 by Denise Coates, Bet365 is still a relatively young brand. From the outset she has focused on online operations and in 2005 she sold all the betting shops previously owned by Peter Coates - Denise's father. Under strong leadership, Bet365 has grown from a single operation to easily one of the largest betting companies on the UK mainland. The decision to remain based in the UK, as opposed to moving to a more tax friendly location, makes Bet365 a fairly significant contributor to the UK economy.
Compared to the two brands mentioned above, Bet365 has taken a strikingly different approach. While they have focused on acquiring a number of companies and building a portfolio that is diversified to the point of being unfathomable, Bet365 has focused exclusively on its own brand.
Bet365 is a privately owned company. In addition to its base in England, it has a number of offices in other countries, including Australia, Malta, Bulgaria and Gibraltar. In 2019, Bet365 opened its website to customers in New Jersey, USA, and Sweden.
Bet365 at a glance:
Source: Bet365.com, EGR
One of the most illustrious names in British sports betting is William Hill. Founded in 1934, it has one of the longest traditions in the betting world.
Similar to Bet365, William Hill mainly functions as a single-brand betting company. It has technically acquired other sportsbooks throughout its history, most recently Mr Green in 2019, but these are not its primary focus. William Hill's most prominent international ventures are in the United States, where it moved quickly following the relaxation of gambling laws in 2018 to capture a significant portion of this new market. Part of the motivation for the publicly traded Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR), which is based in Nevada, to acquire the company was the success of this move.
Since its inception, William Hill has seen many ups and downs and has changed hands several times. The most recent change of ownership occurred in September 2025, when US casino giant Caesars Entertainment agreed to pay £2.9 billion to acquire the brand. The deal was completed later in 2025, after which Caesars delisted William Hill from the London Stock Exchange. We can expect that many of the gaming offerings that William Hill has in the US will soon be rebranded as Caesars Sportsbook. In the UK and continental Europe, William Hill was not part of the Caesars deal. The European business, which includes more than 1,400 betting shops in the UK, was sold to a company called 888 Holdings in September 2025 for £2.2 billion.
William Hill at a glance:
Source: WilliamHillGroup.com
Founded in 1997, Unibet launched its first online betting platform in 1999, putting it on a similar timeline to Bet365. Since then, the two companies have taken very different paths. Bet365 has focused on its own development, while Unibet has pursued a policy of aggressive expansion.
In the 2010s alone, the company has purchased a number of different companies, including StanJames.com, Bet24, and the successful 32Red. It has also expanded into poker and bingo, with Bingo.com perhaps its most notable addition. In 2016, Unibet's shareholders met and decided that a rebrand was needed to better reflect its now much larger portfolio of brands - and thus the Kindred Group was born.
Although Unibet began in Sweden under the aegis of Anders Ström, when it came time for the company to go public, it did so on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Today, however, Unibet, as part of the larger Kindred Group, calls Malta its home, and the company also operates in several other jurisdictions, including offices in the UK, USA, Australia and France. Kindred Group is a company whose shares are listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (KIND-SDB).
Kindred Group at a glance:
Source[AG5] : Kindred Group plc Annual Report and Accounts 2025 , KindredGroup.com
Much like William Hill, Betfred is a very well established brand in the UK betting market. The first Betfred shop was opened in 1967 by Fred Done in Salford, near Manchester. For the first few decades, the betting shop was called Done Bookmakers and it grew quite rapidly. By 2000, there were around 200 betting shops in the UK under the Done name. The name changed to Betfred in 2004 (when the online sportsbook also started), and by 2017 there were 1,650 betting shops operating under the Betfred name.
Unusually, like Bet365 and now William Hill, Betfred is a private company. Most of the other major bookmakers in the UK are publicly traded, but Fred Done (along with his brother Peter) retains ownership of the Betfred brand. Betfred has also largely avoided acquisitions. Its purchase of the Tote in 2011 was a rare exception, but this was sold on again in 2019.
Betfred’s primary headquarters remain in England, but its online business operations are based in Gibraltar.
Betfred at a glance:
Source[AG6] : Daily Mail, Craft
Originally founded in 1997 as Virtual Holdings, 888 is now a public company and a member of the FTSE 250. The founders were two sets of siblings from Israel. They focused the company's early energies on poker and casino games, and it wasn't until March 2008 that they launched a sportsbook. Today, of course, 888sport is one of the largest bookmakers in the UK.
888 Holdings has not been as aggressive as some other companies in acquiring sportsbooks, preferring to develop its existing products. Talks have been held to acquire both Ladbrokes and William Hill, but no such deal has seen the light of day. In fact, the company has been far more aggressive in trying to bolster its presence in other online gaming verticals, picking up a number of different brands in the bingo and casino sectors over the years. Dig a little deeper, however, and you'll find that most of the company's revenue comes from its online casino, rather than its sports betting, poker or bingo operations.
As mentioned above, in September 2025, William Hill's European business, which includes its UK betting shops, was acquired by Caesars Entertainment for $3 billion. This included the purchase of 888 Holdings, a Gibraltar-based company listed on the London Stock Exchange, for £2.2 billion.
888 Holdings at a glance:
Source: 888 Holdings 2025 Full Year Results
| Company | Founded | Headquarters | Revenue (2024) | Employees (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flutter Entertainment | 2016 (merger) | Dublin, Ireland | £8.0 bn | 20,000+ |
| Entain (ex-GVC Holdings) | 2004 | Douglas, Isle of Man | £4.8 bn | 25,000+ |
| Bet365 | 2000 | Stoke-on-Trent, UK | £3.4 bn | 7,000+ |
The UK betting market remains one of the most profitable in the world. According to recent reports:
All financial and market data referenced in this article has been obtained from verified industry sources, including
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Placing your bets with the biggest bookmakers in the UK has both advantages and disadvantages. It is important that you understand what these advantages and disadvantages are. Here are some of the main advantages and disadvantages of betting with the biggest bookmakers:
Gambling is a huge industry in the UK and many of its citizens - both young and old - take part in the thrill of betting every year. When it comes to the action, Brits bet with some of the biggest bookmakers, as well as in casinos, bingo sites and through the National Lottery. Here are some of the latest and most fascinating statistics on the gambling habits of this nation's citizens.
The UK sports betting industry is simply huge. In 2018, it was estimated to be worth around £14.4 billion a year, which means that - even for companies with a presence in all sorts of different countries - the UK is often by far their most profitable market. Around 100,000 people work in the gambling industry, the vast majority in sports betting, and around 31% of the British population are thought to gamble on a weekly basis.
For centuries, the British have enjoyed gambling as a form of entertainment. However, it was not until the 1850s that the first real sportsbooks were opened. But even with sportsbooks and betting shops, gambling in the UK really exploded with the advent of the Internet. Today, over 38% of all gambling takes place online. That's something I didn't really believe when I first heard it. Over £5.6 billion is generated annually from online sports betting in the UK alone.
Revenue in the US is likely to soon surpass these figures due to the relaxation of anti-gambling laws in 2018. In August 2025 alone, Americans wagered $2.1 billion; if this upward trend continues, betting companies that have focused on the UK may well turn their attention across the Atlantic.
The biggest online gambling companies are currently more concerned about the prospect of increased government regulation than anything else. There is a growing movement to restrict how and where they can market their products. This includes everything from how we can advertise a sports sponsorship deal to a really decent ad in a commercial break during the game itself. There have also been calls for bookmakers to do more to help problem gamblers instead of, you know, just letting them gamble away their lives. (But seriously, help the problem gamblers in your betting shops, bookmakers.) The worst part of a tighter regulatory framework is probably where it would affect revenue streams. So, no, betting companies shouldn't worry about us affecting the lives of our readers - it's a step towards them not affecting our lives.
The largest bookmakers in the UK have all gone the digital and mobile route to create the market that exists today. This was a wise decision on their part. Here are some fascinating facts about the current largest bookmakers in the UK:
The largest bookmakers in the UK share many characteristics that set them apart from their regional counterparts and from the smaller firms in the UK betting market. When you're looking at the biggest betting companies in the UK today, look out for these standard features that they all share:
That should tell you just about everything you need to know about the biggest bookmakers in the UK today. They are industry leaders for a reason. The most profitable UK gambling companies have reached the top of the industry by being trustworthy, reliable and regulated, but also fair to the people who bet with them. Top online sportsbooks never get too high on a good day for them, or too low on a bad day when bettors clean up and many favorites win. Reputation is everything, and in most cases, the big players have built theirs over many years.
Today, GVC Holdings, which owns the Ladbrokes, Coral and Betdaq gaming brands, is widely regarded as the largest bookmaker in the UK. The company has been formed through a series of acquisitions and mergers in recent years.
The revenue the UK’s biggest betting company, GVC Holdings, is estimated at around £2,500,000,000.
According to a 2019 survey conducted by Finder, the typical adult in the UK bets approximately £135 per year. Other findings and details from this survey can be seen above.
