Anyone who is into online gambling will be more than acquainted to Bet365 and the services they provide. Currently, they are the United Kingdom’s largest online gambling company with 35 million customers worldwide and employ over 4,000 members of staff.
The website is one of the best in the industry, with state-of-the-art apps supplementing the betting service they provide to their vast array of punters. It hasn’t always been this way, though. So let’s take a look back at the origins of Bet365 and see where it all began.
Early Beginnings
Bet365 didn’t start-off in an office or any type of business park that you’d come to expect, but a Portakabin in Stoke-on-Trent. Denise Coates is the lady responsible for launching Bet365 in the year 2000, providing a sports betting platform and trading team which enabled the company to start trading online in 2001.
A £15 million loan was borrowed by the business from RBS, which was taken out against the family’s betting shop estate (started by Denise’s father, Peter.) In 2005, Bet365 sold the betting shop chain to Coral for £40 million which enabled Coates to pay back the loan to RBS. From here, Bet365 began to dominate the online gambling industry.
Continued Growth
Perhaps the main feature that set Bet365 aside from the rest in the early days was the inclusion of lesser-known markets for some of the more unusual and niche sports. This would predominantly include all the fixed-odds sports betting so customers had much more choice than from rivals and competitors.
Casino and games products were quickly becoming very popular amongst customers, with the likes of poker, roulette, blackjack and bingo now readily available. Even with rivals offering similar products, such as Betfair Casino, Bet365 continued to flourish and grow at an unprecedented rate.
In March 2012, Bet365 reported figures of £12.2 billion being staked on sports of which £646 million was posted as revenue, leaving £116.5 million as profit. This provides an idea of how quickly and successfully Bet365 have grown.
What Does The Future Entail ?
Bet365 will always be considered as the people’s choice when it comes to having a punt online. The company quite literally suit the needs of any type of gambler, offering a variety of casino games, fixed-odds betting and exchange platforms.
Bet365’s continued growth has seen them move from Stoke to a new headquarters in Manchester, with state-of-the-art facilities and a satellite office also included. In 2016, the same year of the move, Bet365 confirmed that £36 billion had been wagered in that year which highlights just how powerful they are.
Denise still owns 50.1% of the company with her father acting as chairman, as well as being the owner of Championship side Stoke City. The pair have overseen Bet365’s development ever since day one and it’s expected that they’ll continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Bet365 is no stranger to picking up awards, either. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, they were named as the number one internet gaming company from eGaming Review magazine.