Talk us through your Missouri launch, with the market opening up December 1?

To expand into Missouri is just big for us. Missouri has a long history of having great teams and really passionate fans. So for us as a sportsfirst company, we’re really excited for it. We’re partnering with the St. Louis Cardinals out there, which is another legacy play for us.

How has the St. Louis Cardinals collaboration helped bet365 familiarize itself with the Missouri community?

Working with the Cardinals has been awesome to get to know the state. They know the people, they know the fans, the history. For us to come in and partner with them has been really, really good as we try to figure out what sports to put front and center, or which offers and markets. It felt like the perfect partner at the perfect time.

Are there activation opportunities that stem from the partnership?

Yes, we’ve got sponsorship all over the ballpark. We’ve got outfield signage, specifically in the upper deck near left field. You can also find our offers out there, like bet $10, get $365 back. It’s something we’re really proud of and we hope Missourians are going to see that, try our app and have a great experience.

Given the competition, how can bet365 gain market share and vie for pole position with the likes of FanDuel and DraftKings?

FanDuel and DraftKings are good competitors; we like what they’re doing, but we just think with our global history, we’ve got a little bit of a faster app and a better betting experience. We’re the largest single-brand betting company in the world and it goes back 20+ years in terms of what we’re doing in the UK.

The UK is great, but we care about what the Missouri bettor’s experience is going to be like, which includes making sure when people get there, it makes sense. The UX design, the offers, we want to provide free money to start off so you can learn our product. And once you start to use it, everything from the same-game parlays to the live in-game betting experience, we think once you feel it, you’re going to keep using it.

FanDuel and DraftKings will be releasing prediction-market offerings by 2026; could this be a vertical bet365 eventually expands into or is already considering?

Right now we’re monitoring the situation, because it’s changing incredibly fast. If we would have talked two weeks ago, before FanDuel and DraftKings made that announcement, I’m not even sure what they would’ve said. For us, we want to provide the best legalized online sports betting experience, and right now that’s what we’re focused on. What that means for us is in every single one of the 16 states we’re currently in, we want to work with those regulators to ask how they’re viewing prediction markets; and what they think the future looks like before we make any decisions on how we’d actually move forward in that type of industry.

Does bet365 foresee prediction markets having a notable impact on traditional sports betting in the US?

Everything that’s been positioned by our competitors has been keeping them separate up to this point. Predictions would be a way to operate in non-legal states where legalized online sports betting doesn’t yet exist, unlike Missouri. If you release them in the same place, I’m not sure how much predictions would eat into sports betting market share just because, as of right now, it’s a very different experience.

You’re able to bet on core things with prediction markets, but if you look at bet365 in legal states, you can bet on everything. We’ve got markets, we’ve got parlays, if you’re betting on the Chiefs, you can do anything from Patrick Mahomes yards to a Travis Kelce touchdown plus Kansas City moneyline. That’s currently not available in the predictions space. Our core experience just offers a lot more to customers. But, as you’ve already mentioned, it’s changing every day, it’s changing every week, so we’re going to keep monitoring it.

Is additional expansion on the cards in 2025? Which markets are of interest?

We’re trying to expand everywhere that’s legal in 2026. Two markets we’re incredibly excited about next year are going to be Michigan and West Virginia. We’ve also got two or three more we can’t announce right now. Yet, while the world is distracted with predictions, we’re using it as an opportunity to go live and ensure we can offer promotions in new areas, build up our consumer base and focus on our core products.

What type of features or promotions can bet365 offer to help differentiate the operator from US competition?

There are two parts to this; first the promotions and then the core product experience. Promotions are needed to get you in the door. If you’re betting with us in Missouri, you’ll receive the bet $10, get $365 back, early payout offers and deals we have running all the time. Number two for us is eventually that free money goes away. Where we can not only compete, but win, is through our product experience.

We’re always making sure we have the fastest and easiest-to-use product. Whether that’s deposits, withdrawals, same-game parlays or in-game betting, you’ll still get your bet in right away with a live spread. When it comes to our core product experience, we really feel we can beat anyone.