Denise Coates, the CEO of gambling giant Bet365 remains one of the biggest taxpayers in the UK. Along with her family, they were said to have paid £460.2 million to the UK treasury on the back of their earnings in 2022.
Denise Coates herself was reportedly paid £213m in one year. This was despite diving profits of Bet365 due to piling money into expanding internationally. Despite this, in the year ending in March 2022, the business turned over £2.9bn in total. In addition, charitable donations of £100m were made through the Denise Coates foundation.
Denise Coates has often been described by various news outlets as the most successful woman in the UK. She turned her father’s bookmakers into one of the biggest online gambling companies in the world after gaining a first-class degree in econometrics.
Coates and Bet365 were one of the first to take advantage of the opportunity the internet presented to the gambling industry. In the years since, Bet365 has invested heavily in online advertising and IT systems. Football fans will also have seen plenty of gambling advertisements on their television screens. Bet365 is one of the biggest Premier League advertisers. Coates and Bet365 also own Stoke City football club.
In an old interview with The Guardian newspaper, Coates was quoted stating how she tries to avoid the limelight when possible as she ‘doesn’t like the attention’. However, she also states that the key to the success of Bet365 in 2023, is due to the risk they took in putting everything into the online gambling industry.
“We mortgaged the betting shops and put it all online. We knew the industry required big startup costs, but we gambled everything on it. We were the ultimate gamblers if you like.”
Coates saw an opportunity, went all in on it and it paid off.
Online Gambling in 2023
Bet365 were one of the first players through the door into the online gambling industry, so to speak. The early risk paid off, and Bet365 remains one of the most successful gambling operators, not just in the UK but abroad too.
Bet365 has established itself in most English-speaking countries including Australia and Ireland. However, the past few years have seen them look to establish themselves in the North American sports betting market.
American states are now able to make their own laws regarding sports betting, and we are witnessing an increasing number of them opening up. Numerous UK gambling firms, including Bet365 as well as the likes of William Hill, are trying to take advantage. However, the industry is certainly competitive.
Despite the easing of American laws, it still remains to be seen whether online casino gambling will become legal in the country again. As it stands, laws are only easing on sports betting, although it is expected that any laws involving the acceptance of online casino gambling in the USA would create a 100bn dollar industry overnight.
In the UK, casino gaming is the most popular form of gambling. The industry continues to grow too and saw a large boost during the pandemic. The main reason for growth is the wide use and availability of smartphones in the modern age.
Mobile slots in 2023 are a hugely popular form of gambling due to how easy they are to play as well as the excitement they offer punters. Playing slots on smartphones in 2023 has never been easier nor more secure and private. The anonymity offered by online casinos is one of the reasons they are attractive to gamblers.
Bet365 specifically offers both sports betting and online casino betting.