SPORTS BETTING

UK – Bet365, DraftKings voted fairest sportsbooks in UK and US respectively

By Phil - 19 March 2024

FairPlay Sports Media (FPSM), the global sports media network, fuelled by data and powered by fans, has announced the results of its inaugural FairPlay Fair Betting Survey, with bet365 in the UK, and DraftKings and FanDuel in the US shown to be the most trusted operators in their respected markets.

The digital survey of a thousand UK and US bettors with varying levels of betting involvement was commissioned to quantify how much of a role ‘fairness’ plays in customers choosing and continuing with their chosen bookmakers, and to explore in more detail what a fair betting experience looks like and how important it was to them.

When asked ‘of the sportsbooks you have accounts with, who is the fairest?’, 40 per cent of the UK audience scored bet365 the fairest, with SkyBet second (16 per cent) and Paddy Power third (12 per cent). In the US, 37 per cent surveyed labelled DraftKings the fairest. FanDuel came second with 33 per cent, with both brands comfortably clear of competition.

Bet365 performed the best on the top three factors that the UK audience labelled most important for a ‘fair experience’: ‘Best odds’, ‘Best Odds Guaranteed’, and ‘Easy to use site/app’. Both DraftKings and FanDuel scored well on the two most important factors for the US market: ‘Best odds’ and ‘Easy withdrawals’.

Fairness is deemed an important factor by the bettors surveyed, with 87 per cent of UK respondents claiming it to be ‘Very important’, with 78 per ent of the US set stating the same. Perceptions of unfairness are relatively low in the US with just 16 per cent saying they’ve experienced unfair treatment, in contrast to over half in the UK survey (54 per cent).

How customers regard fairness in the UK compared to US differs, with the former ranking ‘Best odds’ as the number one factor that operators need to deliver to be perceived as fair, with the US survey ranking it second behind ‘Easy withdrawals’. Elsewhere in the top three, an ‘Easy to use site/app’ came in third most important in both markets.

Bet365 scored highly in the factors that were most important to a fair experience in the UK, with second-placed SkyBet performing relatively better on less important features, such as ‘Transparent offers’, ‘Wide array of offers’, and ‘Easy withdrawal’. The two leading US brands, DraftKings and FanDuel, followed similar response rates to the important factors of ‘Best odds’ and ‘Easy withdrawals’, with the latter potentially ranking higher due to the market’s nascent nature.

When asked ‘What does fairness mean to you?’, common themes to the open-ended question converged around ‘honour’ and ‘respect’, with a general sense that the bookmaker-customer relationship is not a level playing field in the UK market, while the US responses revolved more around being treated equally to other customers, as well as more emphasis on better prices and transparency.

Significantly, the majority of UK bettors (87 per cent) claimed it is ‘Very Important’ to be treated fairly by their bookmaker, while the industry could clearly do more with 54 per cent of them also claiming to have been treated ‘Unfairly’ by operators at one point. Half of those who had experienced unfairness also stated that they would stop using a bookmaker because of it.

The US audience demonstrated a similar sentiment, with 78 per cent seeing fair treatment as ‘Very Important’, but notably, only 16 per cent claimed to have experienced unfair treatment by an operator. Whether due to market maturity or the US’ generally regarded higher standard of customer service requires further research.

Stuart Simms, Group CEO at FairPlay Sports Media, said of the inaugural survey: “It’s fascinating to see how ‘fairness’ fits into the bettor’s psyche when choosing their operators. Many might not consider it as a key factor, but it’s clear from these results that being treated fairly is extremely important for a strong bookmaker-customer relationship.

“It’s a hunch we had before the survey that those brands who were deemed ‘fairest’ might also be the leaders in their respective markets, and I’d like to commend the likes of bet365, FanDuel and DraftKings on performing well in this regard. It’s clear that the US and UK markets have crossover when it comes to what ‘fairness’ means, and although the UK may be a more mature market, it could be said – based on these results – that to drive lifetime value and decrease churn, it could learn some more in customer service from across the pond.”

The FairPlay Fair Betting Survey was remotely collated from January 5, 2024, to February 6, 2024, using a sample of approximately 500 respondents of legal betting age in both the UK and from states where online sports betting is legal in the US.