Gambling is addictive, just because of the rush that runs through you as you make a bet on an outcome that you can’t even control, and the feeling when you actually win and you increase your earnings. However, it also comes with a terrible feeling especially when you lose your money and then spend the rest of your money trying to win back what you lost, and before you know it, you’re drowning in debt. There is a very real reason why gambling addicts need counseling and therapy to recover from this addiction; why they can end up not only losing their money and assets, but their family, friends and other loved ones as well.
Of course, at a small level, gambling isn’t that big an issue. But the moment you feel you’re veering into the abyss, you should stop. A small bet here and there, buying a lottery ticket once a week, that is generally fine. The gambling industry is divided into lottery, sports betting, casinos and others, of which lottery is the biggest sector, while sports betting is the fastest growing one. The lottery division is further classified into online, offline and VR, where offline is by far the biggest segment, with more than 96% of total sales coming from the online sector. VR meanwhile is the fastest growing sector in the lottery segment.
Of course, the largest gambling companies in the world thrive on this addiction and make their billions counting on the very intrinsic nature of people and their addiction to the rush, power and money you can potentially earn from gambling. After all, the concept of passive income i.e. income without having to work a lot is extremely popular and exactly what these companies feed on. This is why the global gambling industry is worth more than $440 billion, with the potential to reach nearly $650 billion in 2027 on a CAGR of 5.6%. Lottery alone is estimated to be worth over $200 billion by 2027 at a stunning CAGR of 9.9%.
In the United States alone, the gambling market is worth around $119 billion right now, while China is forecasted to grow to around $160 billion by 2027. Japan and Canada are other major gambling markets, while in Europe Germany is one of the biggest markets, along with the United Kingdom. Asia Pacific is unsurprisingly the biggest market in the world for gambling and accounts for around a third of the global market, followed by North America, Europe and then the other regions. It is interesting to note that many countries across the world, especially Muslim countries, have outright banned gambling mainly because of the fact that gambling is strictly prohibited by their religions, and hence, no exceptions whatsoever are made. Of course, even if gambling is officially banned, illegal gambling dens thrive in these areas, proving that there is little you can do to stop a person who wants to gamble.
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The Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen over 73 million cases and more than 1.6 million deaths. The global lockdown that resulted as governments tried to battle the spread of the virus saw most non essential businesses close down, and casinos were the first to be impacted as they were deemed non essential. This has led to many major companies losing out massively on revenue over the past several months, and many even on the verge of going bankrupt. In many countries, even lottery draws were stopped and betting shops closed down and all these closures are estimated to have an impact of an 11% decline at a global level while in the UK alone, gambling revenues are expected to drop by around 50%. Since professional sports were closed back for several months across most countries in the world, betting on sports came to an almost complete stop, especially in Europe which has a lot of popular leagues which attract betting. Instead, focus has now increased to online gambling as in person gambling was not allowed. Several operators went digital and many states in the US now allow online lotteries to mitigate the effect of not being able to gamble in person. This is why an increase of 13% is expected in online gambling in 2020 as compared to the previous year, which is at least some consolation to an industry devastated by the pandemic. If you are into gambling and have been affected by the pandemic, you might want to take a look at the 11 largest online gambling sites in the world.
The 15 largest gambling companies in the world have revenues crossing the $40 billion mark. All but 3 companies have revenues of at least $1 billion and these companies are scattered across the world. 6 of the companies are from the UK and 4 from the United States of America, while the other 5 belong to Europe, Hong Kong, Australia and the Philippines. Our rankings are based on their revenues for 2019 and if you try to compare it against other websites, you’re unlikely to see correct revenues because either the information is outdated, or they take the entire revenue of market cap of a company, even if it has other operations apart from gambling. For absolute certainty on our numbers, we have checked the annual reports of each company, taking only revenue applicable to gambling and converting the numbers from their local currencies to USD. So without further ado let’s take a look at the companies most profiting from gambling, starting with number 15:
15. Alliance Global
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 492.96
Alliance Global is a company from the Philippines, which is engaged in several activities including gambling. The company was founded 27 years ago in 1993.
Pixabay/Public Domain
14. 888 Holdings
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 560.3
888 Holdings is registered in Gibraltar and has 1,350 employees to help drive its revenue of more than half a billion dollars.
Pixabay/Public Domain
13. Betfred
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 985.04
The first UK company in our list is Betfred, which came close to hitting the $1 billion mark in revenue in 2019. More than 13 billion pounds were wagered on through the company which was first established as a single betting shop before growing significantly over the decades since.
Copyright: tang90246 / 123RF Stock Photo
12. Kindred Group
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 1,235.77
Formerly known as Unibet Group, Kindred is the second British company in our list, and offers online casino, online bingo, online poker and sports betting as well.
Pixabay/Public Domain
11. OPAP
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 1,974.43
OPAP is the Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics, and is a Greek company which is involved in both organizing and operating games of chance. The company is headquartered in Athens and was initially a state owned gambling company, with around 1,500 employees.
10. William Hill
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 2,141.43
William Hill is a major bookmaker in the UK and is one of the oldest companies in our list, having been founded back in 1964 and has over 11,000 employees.
Pixabay/Public Domain
9. La Francaise Des Jeux Societe Anonyme
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 2,383.33
It is France’s biggest gambling company and the biggest in all countries in Europe apart from the UK. It operates France’s national lottery games and is both owned and operated by the government of France.
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8. Stars Group
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 2,500
While it has since been sold to Flutter Entertainment in May 2020, because our list is based on 2019 revenues, we have kept Stars Group as well, which was established 19 years ago and was headquartered in the Isle of Man. The company had over 4,500 employees. The value of its sale to Flutter Entertainment was worth around $6 billion.
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7. Flutter Entertainment
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 2,897.17
Flutter Entertainment was initially known as Paddy Power Betfair and is one of the most famous bookmaking companies in the world. It operates under various brands, many of which might be known to you, especially if you reside in the UK, including Full Tilt Poker, Paddy Power, Sky Bet, Sportsbet.com.au and Timeform among others.
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6. Scientific Games (NASDAQ:SGMS)
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 3,363
Scientific Games is one of the biggest American gambling companies and was the first company in the world to introduce secure instant lottery tickets, 46 years ago in 1974. It also provides point of sale systems to allow retailers to print tickets of some of the biggest lotteries in the world including Powerball and MegaMillions. It has more than 8,500 employees.
Pixabay/Public Domain
5. Tabcorp
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 3,970
Tabcorp is the largest gambling company in Australia, and kicks off our top 5, with more than 5,000 employees and nearly $4 billion in revenue. It was formed 26 years ago in 1994 and is Australia’s biggest provider of lotteries, gaming products and Keno.
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4. Bet365
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 4,035.74
bet365 is one of the most famous betting companies in Europe, and this British company has maintained its reputation as one of the largest gambling companies in the world. It is the only company in the top 4 of our list to not be listed on any stock exchange, with the majority ownership belonging to its founder Denise Coates. It is most famous for sports betting and is even a sponsor for the football team Stoke City, whose city was renamed as Bet365 Stadium. Bets of more than 50 billion pounds are placed annually on sports through Bet365.
The company has attracted a lot of controversy over the years, especially over its refusal to pay some of its biggest winners including refusing to pay 1 million pounds to a horse bettor in Northern Ireland in 2017, which was the most famous such case. Other examples of tens of thousands of pounds and hundreds of thousands of pounds have also been refused by the company. In 2019, it was ranked as the second highest tax payer in the UK.
Its founder Denise Coates has also been criticized for her salary, as she became the highest paid executive in the UK when she gave herself a salary of around 217 million pounds, which moved up to 265 million pounds in 2018.
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3. International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT)
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 4,786
International Game Technology was founded 30 years ago in 1990, and produced slot machines in addition to other gambling technology as well. While the company itself is headquartered in London, it also has a major presence in Las Vegas, Rhode Island, Providence and Rome too. It is controlled by the famous De Agostini company, who have a 51% stake in the company. The company employs more than 12,000 employees across its offices.
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2. Entain PLC
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 4,948.21
The biggest gambling company in the UK and Europe is Entain PLC, which was founded 16 years ago in 2004. If you have made bets in the UK from various betting shops, then you are more than likely to be familiar with the brands owned by Entain, which includes Bwin, Ladbrokes, PartyPoker, Sportingbet and Coral. Initially, it was known as GVC Holdings, but just one week ago, changed its name to Entain PLC. The company has operations in at least 18 countries and is headquartered in the Isle of Man and has more than 2,800 employees.
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1. Melco (NASDAQ:MLCO)
Total revenue in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 5,029.54
Topping the list of the 10 largest gambling companies in the world is Melco, which is a Hong Kong company engaged in developing, ownership and operation of resorts with casino and entertainment facilities, and has operations in both Asia and Europe. The company has more than 21,000 employees and is 16 years old. While you may be liable to find Melco in other largest gambling companies list, but you will be unlikely to find the correct revenue. We scoured the financial report of the company and only selected revenue related to gambling operations which totaled 38,898 Hong Kong dollars.
Among the many resorts that the company owns are Altira Macau, launched in 2007, City of Dreams Macau, launched in 2009, City of Dreams Manila, launched in 2015 and Studio City Macau, which was launched in 2015. Another resort is under construction in Cyprus, and upon completion, is liable to become the largest casino-resort in Europe and will likely cement its position as the biggest gambling company in the world.
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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.