Operator Tracker Q4 2024: Sky Bet makes up some ground on bet365

Returning to a more traditional sporting calendar after the ‘summer of sport’, FairPlay Sports Media’s UK Operator Tracker has uncovered a number of feature and brand perception trends for Q4 2024, albeit with bet365 maintaining its dominant position on the majority of metrics.

Sky Bet has opened a marginal lead on bet365 this quarter in terms of awareness – the first time since Q3 2023 – with the latter’s awareness declining by -4%. However, it remains robust at converting users to repeat customers who use the brand as their sportsbook of choice.

Further headlines from the survey include mainstay brands William Hill and Paddy Power decline in ‘regular usage’ for the quarter by 5% and 7%, respectively. These brands were outliers in a quarter that saw most sportsbooks record incremental improvements on Q3.

Bet365 has once against landed clear of its competitors in terms of how it’s regarded for ‘generosity’, holding a 13% lead on its nearest rival Sky Bet. Meanwhile, following a period of growth in several of its key feature perceptions, Paddy Power has seen drops in attitude towards its ‘bet builders’ (-6%) and ‘offers and promos’ (-8%) offerings.

The battle of the apps has also swayed towards the leading two of bet365 and Sky Bet, with Paddy Power and William Hill seeing their association with a ‘high-quality app’ decline, allowing for Betfair to take the fourth position in the category after four quarters of perception improvements.

Looking more in-depth at individual brand perceptions, bet365 also continues to be the most trusted brand, although this trend is seeing a gradual decline over the past year, while also being 8% points clear of the next best in both ‘makes sport exciting’ and ‘rewards customers’.

Sky Bet’s Q4 data shows an underperformance for being ‘trustworthy’ (-6%) and ‘fair’ (-8%) against expected figures, however it continues to notably outperform expectations for its generosity and giving back to customers.

Paddy Power, as might be expected, continues its brand strengths for ‘fun’, going 12% beyond the expected value, and ‘makes sport exciting’ (+5%), with its marketing investments and creative campaigns seemingly still cutting through to key betting audiences.

The quarter saw the challenger brands carry on a similar path to the previous quarter, although Betfair continues to make a name for itself as a ‘unique’ sportsbook, with a 10% outperformance perhaps reflecting its links to exchanges and the more professional betting behaviours that go with it.

Feature perceptions also saw bet365 and Sky Bet lead the market. The former remains clear of competition for ‘best odds’ with 55% of those surveyed choosing it as a descriptor, with 53% also associating it with ‘best odds guaranteed’, considerably higher than Sky Bet (17%), Paddy Power (19%) and Ladbrokes (17%). In the horseracing stakes, Sky Bet still leads on ‘extra places’ (42% association) though.

Betfair is disproportionately regarded as having a strong ‘in-play betting’ offering, beating expectations by 11%, while also being the only sportsbook to outperform on ‘tracking bets’, which may align with the previous comments on its users’ behaviours.

Among the challenger brands, Coral outperformed by 7% on ‘best odds guaranteed’, with most other metrics coming in on expectation for brand size, although there is a notable trend across BetVictor, Coral, 888Sport, Betfred, Unibet and BetMGM, with all ranking above the industry average for ‘safer gambling features’.

The fieldwork took place in later December, a period of intense marketing activity for sportsbooks with a jam-packed football and racing schedule. Clearly some brands have had success, notably Sky Bet increasing its brand awareness, while others have found the environment more competitive.

About FairPlay Sports Media

EGR and FairPlay Sports Media have partnered to bring a data-led, quarterly report on brand perception of leading firms in the sector.

These insights are produced by FairPlay Sports Media senior customer insights manager Peter Morris. He has more than a decade of experience working in market research, starting his career working at agencies Ipsos Mori and then 2CV, with a particular focus on brand and marketing research projects.

In 2018, Morris joined what was then Oddschecker, focusing on UK product and marketing insight. Since then, he has expanded his role, heading up customer insight within FairPlay Sports Media, providing intel across all their operations and territories.