UK-based gambling platform bet365 joined the Sports Betting Alliance, a spokesman from the SBA confirmed to InGame Thursday. The news was first revealed to the hosts of Casino Reports‘ Low Rollers podcast Wednesday by SBA President Jeremy Kudon.
“I think that what has defined these companies is their ability to survive and adapt,” he said in response to a question about whether or not the legislative landscape for wagering has become more unfriendly. “I’m also excited to have a bet365 in the SBA, that’s not something I ever thought six years ago we would have.”
Bet365 is the first new member since the SBA announced its formation in 2021 with BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics Sportsbook, and FanDuel as founding members. It is live in 13 U.S. states, and has its North American headquarters in Denver. Other than FanDuel parent company Flutter, it is the first company based in Europe to achieve significant penetration across the U.S.
According to a 2024 YouGov study, bet365 was the first choice for American bettors aged 21-34. The company has less than 4% market share across the U.S., but has been steadily growing. In New Jersey, the first U.S. state in which bet365 launched, the company’s market share hovers around 6%.
The SBA brings together the biggest names in U.S. sports betting to lobby for legal sports betting and iGaming.
According to its mission statement, the group supports “consumer protections and responsible gaming tools that do not exist on the unregulated market.” SBA members operate only in legal gambling jurisdictions, and once a location has gone live, it strives to build those markets and bring customers from illegal markets into legal markets.
SBA rallied 76,000 letters to Illinois lawmakers
The SBA lobbies across the U.S. — educating lawmakers in states where wagering is not yet legal, and in those where it is, on the pros and cons of making changes to existing laws and regulations.
Last weekend, the SBA said it mobilized 76,000 Illinois bettors to send last-minute letters to Illinois lawmakers when it became clear Saturday that they planned to insert a new tax into the FY 2026 budget.
Considered one of the most unfriendly states in which to do business, lawmakers in Illinois last year raised the tax on gross gaming revenue from a flat 15% to a sliding scale between 20-40%, with the highest-performing operators paying the highest taxes. Last weekend, the legislature approved a budget that includes a first-of-its-kind per-wager tax, that escalates from 25 cents per bet to 50 per bet, and will again penalize the most prolific operators.
An SBA spokesperson called the new tax “discriminatory, punitive, and constitutionally suspect,” and said “lawmakers are essentially urging customers — and especially these small-dollar bettors – to switch to unsafe and unregulated sportsbooks who defy state consumer protections and generate zero taxes for state priorities.”
In the last several years, the SBA was active in working with Washington, D.C. lawmakers to move from a single-source market to a competitive market in 2024, and lobbied for legal wagering markets in Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, and Vermont.
Lawmakers in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Vermont legalized sports betting in 2023 and Missouri voters legalized in November 2024. Competitive markets went live in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Vermont between September 2023 and March 2024. Missouri’s regulator is poised to launch operators Dec. 1.
With regard to online casino, member operators continue to educate legislators on the tax benefits and consumer protections of that vertical, which has proved much more difficult to legalize.
