Online betting
Online betting covers sportsbooks, online casino (iCasino), poker and daily fantasy products distributed through web and mobile. The US market opened up after the May 2018 PASPA Supreme Court ruling and has reached over $14B in 2024 sports betting gross gaming revenue across 38 legal states, with mobile share above 95% in most states. DraftKings and FanDuel (Flutter Entertainment) together hold over 70% US share; the EU, UK and Australia run more mature markets where consolidation, regulation and responsible-gaming controls have shaped a smaller universe of scale operators.
The sector spans US sportsbook operators, online casino (iCasino) operators, European and Asian sportsbooks, daily fantasy sports, poker rooms, fantasy sports adjacencies and the B2B sports-data and trading-services layer.
Revenue comes from a mix of sportsbook gross gaming revenue (handle × hold rate), iCasino slot and table GGR, rake on poker, marketing partnerships and media-rights take rates, and B2B trading and platform fees billed to operators.
Online betting is part of Consumer internet.
$95B
Global market size
63
Public companies
Key VC investors
Key strategic buyers
How online betting companies monetize?
Online betting companies monetize through sportsbook GGR, iCasino GGR and B2B platform and trading fees.
Sportsbook GGR
Operators retain a hold percentage of wagering handle. US sports hold sits at 9-11%; UK and EU markets hold lower at 5-8%; iGaming hold is structurally higher than sportsbook.
iCasino GGR
Online slots, blackjack, roulette and live dealer revenue. Higher hold rates, lower promotional intensity and significantly better margins than sportsbook for the operators with access.
Daily fantasy entries
Entry-fee tournaments and head-to-head contests in NFL, NBA, MLB and PGA. DraftKings DFS and FanDuel DFS still anchor user acquisition for sportsbook crossover.
Poker rake
Percentage of each pot or tournament entry fee retained by the operator. PokerStars (Flutter) and partypoker (Entain) dominate; the segment has not recovered to pre-2010 peak.
B2B platform & trading fees
White-label sportsbook platforms, trading and risk-management services billed to operators. Kambi, IMG Arena, Sportradar Managed Trading Services and Genius Sports anchor the layer.
Media & data partnerships
Revenue share on official league data rights, integrations with sports broadcasters and affiliate marketing networks. Sportradar, Genius Sports and Better Collective monetise here.
Online betting valuations in May 2026
Public online betting comps trade at 1.6x EV/Revenue. Median revenue multiple across online betting M&A deals was 3.4x in the last 12 months. Median revenue multiple across online betting VC rounds was 2.3x in the last 12 months.
1.6x
Median EV/Revenue as of May 2026 for public online betting companies
5.0x
Aristocrat Leisure is the highest valued public online betting company based on EV/Revenue (excluding outliers)
3.4x
Median EV/Revenue across online betting M&A deals in the last 12 months
2.3x
Median EV/Revenue across online betting VC rounds in the last 12 months
Online betting market segments
Online betting spans US sportsbook operators, iCasino operators and European and UK sportsbooks.
US sportsbook operators
Mobile-first sports betting operators in the 38 legal US states. FanDuel (Flutter) and DraftKings together hold over 70% US share; BetMGM (MGM / Entain), Caesars Digital, Fanatics Betbook and ESPN BET (Penn Entertainment) anchor the second tier.
iCasino operators
Online casino operators in the seven US legal states plus the EU, UK and Canada. BetMGM leads US iCasino; Evolution and Light & Wonder dominate the underlying game-supply layer; Entain, Flutter and 888 (Evoke) anchor European operations.
European & UK sportsbooks
Listed European operators with sportsbook and iGaming portfolios. Flutter Entertainment (LSE/NYSE: FLUT), Entain (LSE: ENT), Evoke (formerly 888), bet365 (private), Betsson and Kindred (Française des Jeux) define the category.
Daily fantasy sports
Entry-fee fantasy contests pre-dating legal sports betting in the US. DraftKings and FanDuel run the duopoly; PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy and Sleeper run "pick'em" formats that have come under regulatory scrutiny in 2023-24.
Asian & Australian operators
Australia (Sportsbet - Flutter, Tabcorp Sports Wagering - Entain) and Asia operate alongside the global majors. Macau-listed Galaxy and Wynn Macau still dominate retail Asian gaming; online is more fragmented across grey-market operators.
Sports betting affiliates
SEO-led affiliate publishers monetising via revenue share and CPA on operator signups. Better Collective (Nasdaq Stockholm), Catena Media, Gambling.com Group and XLMedia are the scaled public players.
B2B sports data & trading
Sportsbook platforms, trading services and official data feeds sold to operators. Sportradar (NASDAQ: SRAD), Genius Sports (NYSE: GENI), Kambi (Nasdaq First North) and IMG Arena (Endeavor) own the category.
Game suppliers & content
Slots, live dealer and game studios licensed to operators. Evolution AB (Stockholm), Light & Wonder (NASDAQ: LNW), Pragmatic Play, Aristocrat Interactive (after the NeoGames deal) and Playtech anchor the supply chain.
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Key online betting KPIs to track
Handle, GGR, hold rate and monthly unique players are the metrics investors track in online betting.
| KPI | Definition |
|---|---|
| Handle | Total wagered. The top-of-funnel volume metric for sportsbook operators; US listed operators report handle by state and quarter. |
| Gross gaming revenue (GGR) | Handle minus winnings paid back to customers. The revenue line operators and regulators both track. |
| Hold rate | GGR as a percentage of handle. Sportsbook hold is 5-11% depending on market and product mix; iCasino hold is structurally higher. |
| Net gaming revenue (NGR) | GGR after promotional and bonus spend. The cleaner read on what falls to the operator P&L. |
| Monthly unique players | Active accounts placing at least one wager in the month. Used as the headline customer-base metric across listed operators. |
| CAC / lifetime value | Customer acquisition cost and projected lifetime contribution. US new-state launches have run CAC at $300-700 per customer with multi-year payback. |
| Promotional intensity | Bonus and promo spend as a percentage of GGR. Tracks how aggressively operators are buying market share; mature states see this drop from 30%+ at launch to under 15%. |
| Hold-adjusted market share | GGR share normalised for hold differences across operators. Standard for comparing performance in markets where product mix differs materially between sportsbook and iCasino. |
Main online betting players globally
The most active online betting companies and category leaders globally.
| Company | HQ | Overview |
|---|---|---|
Flutter Entertainment flutter.com |  Dublin | Largest online gambling operator globally, owner of FanDuel, PokerStars, Sky Bet, Paddy Power, Betfair and Sportsbet. Dual-listed in London and NYSE under FLUT after the January 2024 NYSE primary listing. |
DraftKings draftkings.com |  Boston | Second-largest US sports betting and iCasino operator. NASDAQ: DKNG; turned positive on adjusted EBITDA in 2024 and acquired Jackpocket for $750M in mid-2024 to expand into lottery courier. |
Entain entaingroup.com |  London | Operator of Ladbrokes, Coral, bwin, partypoker and the 50% BetMGM joint venture with MGM Resorts. LSE: ENT; faced activist pressure in 2024 around US strategy and CEO transition. |
bet365 bet365.com | Stoke-on-Trent | Largest privately held global sportsbook by handle. Founded and controlled by Denise Coates; reported over £3.4B in revenue for FY24 with operations across 17 languages. |
BetMGM betmgm.com | Jersey City | 50/50 joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Entain. The leading US iCasino operator by market share; sportsbook share trails FanDuel and DraftKings in most legal states. |
Penn Entertainment pennentertainment.com | Wyomissing | Operator of ESPN BET, launched in November 2023 after the $1.5B+ multi-year deal with Disney's ESPN. Public on NASDAQ: PENN; sportsbook market share has struggled to break above 5%. |
Caesars Entertainment caesars.com | Reno | Caesars Digital is the third-tier US online sportsbook operator. Public on NASDAQ: CZR; carries the highest land-based casino market integration of any major US online operator. |
Sportradar sportradar.com |  St. Gallen | Largest B2B sports data and trading services platform globally. NASDAQ: SRAD; runs official data partnerships with NBA, NHL, MLB and FIFA. Generated over €1B in revenue in 2024. |
Evolution AB evolution.com |  Stockholm | Largest live casino game supplier globally. Stockholm-listed (EVO); supplies live blackjack, roulette and game-show titles to most online casinos worldwide. Generated over €2B in revenue in 2024. |
PrizePicks prizepicks.com | Atlanta | Largest pick'em daily fantasy operator in the US. Reached $3B in handle through 2023; under active regulatory scrutiny in multiple states over whether pick'em contests cross into sports betting. |
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Key online betting market trends
iCasino state legalisation, pick'em DFS regulatory tightening and operator consolidation are reshaping online betting right now.
iCasino state legalisation as the next leg
Only seven US states allow online casino (NJ, PA, MI, WV, CT, RI, DE); listed operators have made expanding the iCasino footprint the central strategic priority. New York, Maryland and Illinois iCasino bills have stalled in 2024-25; industry-funded campaigns are pushing the next two-year cycle.
Pick'em DFS regulatory tightening
PrizePicks, Underdog and Sleeper have faced cease-and-desist orders in California, New York, Florida, Wyoming and Michigan since 2023, with regulators arguing pick'em mirrors sports betting. The companies have reframed products as peer-to-peer to retain operating licenses; the long-term legal status remains contested.
Promotional intensity normalising in mature US states
Promo spend as a percentage of GGR has fallen from 30-40% at state launch to under 15% in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The combination of duopoly market structure and improved retention has let FanDuel and DraftKings lift sportsbook contribution margins materially through 2023-24.
ESPN BET underperformance
Penn Entertainment's ESPN BET, launched November 2023, has held under 5% US sportsbook share through its first 18 months. The structural challenge of catching FanDuel and DraftKings even with ESPN distribution has changed how operators think about pure-marketing-led catch-up strategies.
M&A and consolidation
DraftKings-Jackpocket ($750M) and Flutter-Snai (€2.3B) closed in 2024; MGM made multiple bids for Entain that were rejected; Fanatics absorbed PointsBet US in 2023. Continued sector M&A has been the theme as smaller operators struggle to reach payback at sub-5% share.
UK Gambling Act review and affordability checks
The UK's 2023 white paper introduced affordability checks, stake limits on online slots and a statutory levy on gross gambling yield. Implementation continued through 2024-25; Flutter, Entain and Evoke have all flagged material UK headwinds in earnings.
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