Dabble CEO: UK is “one of the least innovated” markets globally 

Dabble CEO Tom Rundle has confirmed that the Australian operator is currently in the process of trying to secure a UK licence, while slamming the market for its lack of innovation and development in recent years. 

The social betting startup is expected to launch operations in the UK halfway through 2025, with the business already live in Australia with real-money betting and the US with a DFS product. 

At the time of writing, Dabble’s application for a Gambling Commission licence is pending, as per the UK regulator’s website. 

Dabble has applied for the licence via the London-based Dabble Sports UK, with the permit applied to dabble.co.uk and dabble.uk, should the application prove successful.

Speaking to EGR, Rundle shed light on how the company could gain a foothold within the UK, a market he has described as “one of the least innovated jurisdictions globally”. 

Dabble has risen to prominence in its native Australia by tapping into the social aspect of gaming.

Within the Dabble app, customers can keep tabs on an activity feed that enables them to follow other users and stay up to date with tips and bets from other accounts they follow, similar in style to X. 

Dabble’s app also includes a ‘banter channel’, a discussion forum where users can post their wins and losses, with the aim of generating interaction between customers. 

The company regularly hosts streams that feature former sports stars who will talk directly to users, often providing tips. 

The operator’s approach, which also includes a copy bet function that grants users the ability to copy the bet of someone they follow in one click, could stand it in good stead once it hits the UK, according to Rundle.

Speaking exclusively to EGR, the CEO explained: “We are currently going through the process of getting a licence in the UK, and we’re hoping to enter the middle of this year.  

“We think the UK is probably one of the least innovated jurisdictions globally. They certainly had bet builder recently introduced, which everyone seems to have now. That’s a product that came out of Australia. Before then, it was probably in-play, which really sort of exploded.  

“But other than that, there hasn’t really been much innovation, either in the promotion space or in the actual product space. So, we think we can definitely get a big chunk of the market there pretty quickly and hopefully get to be a profitable business.” 

Rundle went on to note that following expansion into the UK, Dabble could look to move into more markets as it aims to establish itself internationally. 

“Once we’ve got a foothold, we can then look to really ramp that up and then potentially even move into other markets. We see ourselves as a global operator that’s doing something different and we’re pretty excited.” 

Rundle has previously explained the importance of Dabble’s social aspect, telling EGR in 2023 that the operator has three pillars to its business: being a bookmaker, a social network and a software company where it builds its own technology. 

He views the features as part of allowing customers to form their “own little community” within the Dabble app. 

Meanwhile, Rundle has also issued an update on Dabble’s US expansion plans, refusing to rule out the prospect of launching a US-facing sportsbook entirely, but noting it is not high on the agenda currently. 

He explained. “We’re not saying no. We’ve definitely looked at it. There are a few options. I think eventually we’d like to probably be in as many states as we can and as many jurisdictions as we can, and that includes places like Brazil and OSB [online sports betting] in the US.” 

Rundle added that the cost of establishing operations stateside can often be a significant hinderance, remarking: “I think there’s a lot of operators that have gone into certain states in the US into that licensed market, and they’ve really struggled to make an impact. It’s drained a lot of their resources.  

“With a logical, targeted approach in the right places at the right time, it’s definitely something we’d be interested in doing, and we’re certainly looking at our software to make sure that we’d be compliant with any regulations.  

“If that opportunity does come up, then we’d be ready to move pretty quickly because I think it’s definitely a big opportunity.

“As I said, I think our product is pretty engaging in all the states we’re able to operate in. So, if we could introduce it into some new states, I think it’d be very engaging and exciting as well.”