Spoiler alert: Flutter Entertainment made it five in a row after topping the 21^st edition of the EGR Power 50, with bet365 and DraftKings filling the other podium positions in that order.  Here, we have handpicked some key figures from the report published inside the latest edition of EGR.

6

That’s how many places MGM Resorts International jumped in the rankings, leapfrogging from 11^th in last year’s edition to fifth this time around. The Las Vegas-based casino giant has been making significant strides in the digital arena of late, not least with its LeoVegas Group-run BetMGM brand in international markets outside of North America.

Since launching in the UK in the summer of 2023, the brand has gone all guns blazing on the marketing front with its glossy TV ads starring US comedian and actor Chris Rock. A swathe of partnerships was forged with Premier League clubs this year, while securing the headline sponsorship of the Premier League Darts at the start of 2024 was a feather in management’s cap.

Since then, BetMGM has been rolled out in the Netherlands and Sweden. What’s more, LeoVegas Group announced in June it was acquiring Tipico’s US B2C platform, along with trading teams across the US, Colombia and Europe. The aim is to bolster its in-house product and pricing capabilities. In the US, MGM Resorts International’s BetMGM JV with Entain, headed up by Adam Greenblatt, has a 15% overall market share (8% sports betting and 22% igaming).

16

For the EGR Power 50 we call on the services of accountancy and business advisory firm BDO to aid with crunching the numbers to weigh up the financial performance of public and private companies. As part of the report, BDO supplies us with visual data to illustrate how operators featured in the rankings have fared over the past 12 months, and the past few years. Below, one chart revealed that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for net gaming revenue (NGR) since 2018 is 16%. NGR for the trailing 12 months to 30 June 2024 hit £33.7bn. fared over the past few years, particularly the last 12 months.?

21

The highest new entry (21^st position) was Hard Rock Digital (HRD). The online division of tribal-owned Hard Rock made its debut in such a lofty position thanks to its monopoly operation with mobile sportsbook Hard Rock Bet in Florida. In fact, some industry observers have suggested HRD could have catapulted itself to third spot based on national market share since the relaunch of the product in the Sunshine State at the end of 2023.

Having a state like Florida with almost 17 million adults over the age of 21 all to yourself is an enviable position to be in, yet the team haven’t been complacent where the proprietary product is concerned. Indeed, the app has undergone various UX upgrades, including play prop tracking, a ‘Discover’ page displaying popular bets and SGPs, and a re-released Flex Parlay with a slider allowing players to manually adjust their potential payouts if all legs of the wager don’t hit. HRD is able to plough profits from Florida into efforts in its other US states (Illinois, Arizona, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia), making this household name a serious threat to the status quo in the US. This is one operator to keep a firm eye on.

75.5

That’s BDO’s estimate of the market capitalisation (£75.5bn) of the publicly listed operators and privately owned firms that submitted financials as part of the process. This is 3% higher than 2023 (£73.6bn). For comparison, total market capitalisation in 2022 was £45.7bn, while 2021 was a new high of £83.2bn as the industry went on a bull run fuelled by the effects of Covid-19 on player behaviours and access to cheap credit to fund M&A. 

8

Gatecrashing the top 10 for its highest-ever finish (eighth spot) was Kaizen Gaming. This is a business that has been making waves in recent years thanks to its Betano brand, not least with its eyebrow-raising sponsorship of Euro 2024 in the summer. Betano, which underwent a brand refresh ahead of the tournament, is also the official global sponsor of the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League.

Boasting 13 million customers and active in 18 markets (the latest being Colombia with a soft launch in the country earlier this month, November), Betano is widely thought to be the market leader in Brazil, although we might have a clearer picture once this colossal market regulates in January 2025. Moreover, financials shared confidentially with BDO showed Kaizen Gaming made serious gains year on year when it comes to NGR and active players for the trailing 12 months to 30 June 2024. 

11

This year’s biggest climber in the rankings (11 positions) to 17^th spot was Stake. And were it not for Stake’s exposure to grey and dark grey markets, this crypto-centric giant would have been placed even higher. That said, Stake is making inroads into the regulated space with the purchase of Betfair Colombia last year and, more recently, the acquisition of Baldo Line, the parent company of Idealbet in Italy. Stake is also on Brazil’s Ministry of Finance’s list of authorised operators.

Its founders owning live streaming platform Kick provides a shop window for the Stake brand, as well as a means of showcasing its product to a Gen Z audience. Plus, its exclusive title partnership with F1 team Sauber for the 2024 and 2025 season, which features the Stake logo plastered across the car, was a huge boost for brand awareness.