Business is booming in the world of online gambling, which is good news for a lot of companies that have their shares available to trade on different stock markets all over the world.
As a result of the global pandemic, many offline betting businesses such as bookmakers and bricks and mortar casinos were forced to close their doors amid various local lockdowns.
This meant that a lot of people turned to online gambling instead for slots and other games like roulette, resulting in a big boom period for a sector that was already exploding at a rapid rate. Even as the world recovers from the pandemic, online gambling is expanding extremely quickly.
Online gambling continues to get more and more popular, with the industry covering everything from sports betting and slot games through to online poker rooms and even online bingo too.
It seems safe to say online gambling will likely continue to be a money-maker for years to come. Indeed, a recent report suggested that the global gambling market will grow at a CAGR of 7%.
That rapid rise will be fuelled by more states in America legalising sports betting, a trend that is gathering pace and will see most of the US able to legally bet by 2025, according to experts.
So what are some of the biggest online gambling companies on the stock market right now?
Caesars Entertainment
No list of the biggest online gambling companies on the stock market could be complete without Caesars Entertainment, which is based in Nevada – widely seen as the industry’s heartlands.
More than 50 properties are run by Caesars, including Bally’s Las Vegas, The Cromwell and Circus Circus Reno in Nevada, while the company has mobile gambling options now as well.
Caesars Entertainment recently became the official sportsbook partner of NBA team the Cleveland Cavaliers, with many industry experts predicting other similar deals will follow.
As part of the deal, Caesars plans to create a huge new sports betting facility at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse stadium, which is the home of the Cavaliers.
Caesars has dipped a toe in the world of sports betting with the $3.7 billion purchase of the British betting brand William Hill. However, a few months after that blockbuster deal had been confirmed, Caesars opted to sell William Hill’s European business to 888 Holdings for $3 billion.
The company’s sports wagering mobile app, Caesars Sportsbook, was recently made available for download throughout Wyoming and this is expected to be a future path for the firm in the US.
Las Vegas Sands
Another American casino and resort company similar to Caesars, Las Vegas Sands has often been referred to as being the largest casino company on the planet by revenue. Its financial results for 2020 showed that it recorded revenues of $3.612 billion, down on the previous year.
Majority owned by the Adelson family, Las Vegas Sands shares are available to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has its headquarters in Nevada, based in Paradise.
Various properties in Asia are run by Las Vegas Sands, such as the Macau locations Sands Macao, Cotai Arena and the Venetian Macao. But many within the industry believe Las Vegas Sands is plotting to pivot towards online gambling over the course of the next few years.
Earlier this summer, the firm completed a strategic investment in Huddle Tech. This was reported to be Las Vegas Sands’ first move into the burgeoning online gaming market.
Flutter Entertainment
This Irish giant was formed a few years ago by the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair, which created an online gambling behemoth that is one of the largest companies of its type around.
Flutter Entertainment, which has its headquarters in the city of Dublin, continues to grow thanks to more acquisitions. At the start of 2022, the firm acquired the online bingo company Tombola.
While the company runs in the region of 600 betting shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland, its future appears to be online.
Flutter Entertainment brands include FanDuel, Sky Betting & Gaming, Sportsbet, Sisal and PokerStars, as well as Adjarabet, TVG and Junglee Games.
MGM Resorts
This American global hospitality and entertainment company is another firm to be branching out into the world of online gambling, attempting to reap the available rewards of such a move.
MGM Resorts is perhaps best known for operating a number of the most famous properties on the Las Vegas Strip, such as the Bellagio, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and the Mirage, which the company is in the process of selling to industry rival Hard Rock International in 2022.
Its online and mobile betting arm is called BetMGM, with an app available for iOS and Android.
BetMGM is an official sports partner of Major League Soccer, with the company having similar deals in place for the NHL, PGA Tour, MLB, NBA and NASCAR, plus the WNBA too.
DraftKings
This American daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting company has been at the forefront of the changing rules and regulations for online betting in the United States in recent years.
DraftKings Sportsbook was launched in New Jersey in August 2018, becoming the state’s first legal mobile sports betting operator as a result.
The company then released its mobile sports betting operations in Connecticut, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New Hampshire.
Even though DraftKings was only founded a decade ago, it has grown extremely fast and is now right up there with the biggest online gambling companies on the stock market right now.
Wynn Resorts
An operator of high-end hotels and casinos, Wynn Resorts now provides online betting through its WynnBET arm.
However, reports at the start of the year suggested that the Wynn Interactive unit, the operator of the WynnBet online gaming app, was looking to sell this part of the firm.
Penn Entertainment
A company that runs 44 destinations from casinos to racetracks, the firm until recently known as Penn National Gaming also holds a 36 per cent stake in Barstool Sports.
Penn Interactive offers online wagering on sports in two states, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Boyd Gaming
Another American gaming and hospitality company, Boyd Gaming runs 28 properties and has a history dating back to the early 1940s, when it was founded by Sam Boyd in Las Vegas.
Boyd’s sportsbook and online gaming operation is growing fast, with the company having an eye on expanding this part of the business even more quickly in the coming months and years.
888 Holdings
Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings is listed on the London Stock Exchange and runs betting brands such as 888sport, 888casino and 888poker.
William Hill, Mr Green and SI Sportsbook are also part of 888 Holdings, which recorded a rise in revenues to $980.1 million in its latest financial results for 2021.
Churchill Downs Incorporated
Primarily known as the operator of the racetrack where the Kentucky Derby is held each year, Churchill Downs Incorporated is now a major player in the world of online gambling.
It has launched its TwinSpires Mobile App in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Colorado, but said earlier in 2022 it will be scaling back its internet gaming operations.
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