Whilst the top 10 list on our home page represents the crème de la crème of UK betting sites, we’re aware that some people like to use multiple sites – either to pick up bonuses, ensure they have the very best odds going or just because they like a change of scenery once in a while.
On this page you’ll find a list of new betting sites. Some of these have literally just launched, whilst others have been around a while but only just opened up to the British market. Others are long established casinos who have decided to open a sportsbook alongside their gaming products.
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All of the sites in the list above are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and pass some basic checks that allow us to feel comfortable recommending them. Do bear in mind, however, that we’ve not tested these sites to the same degree that we do for the more established sites and the quality of service, odds and offers will vary between them.
Frequently Asked Questions About New Betting Sites
Before trusting your hard earned cash to a site you may have a few questions about who these new bookies are, and how easy it is to launch a new website. In this next section we’ll tackle these topics.
Q. How Easy is it to Start a New Betting Site?
A. It’s actually relatively easy to start a new sports betting site. In fact, provided you have the financial resources behind you all you need is a clever name and a white label provider and you could be up and running in a few months.
In terms of cost, it is actually quite expensive – which should help reassure those of you who are worried about some of them being fly-by-night operations. A bog standard sportsbook using a general pre-designed template with a few tweaks will set you back something in the region of £30,000 to £100,000 to set up, followed by monthly running costs that are usually based on turnover.
The running costs usually come with a minimum turnover amount, meaning that the fees need to be paid regardless of how much activity there is on the site. This means it’s vital for the new bookmaker to get customers quickly and have money flowing through their books, which is great for customers as we all know the best way to attract new business is to dangle a big juicy carrot.
Add together the start up cost, running costs and the marketing required to get boots through the doors as you would likely need at least £250,000 to start a white label sports betting site that has a shot of lasting. Realistically to be comfortable and to give it a ‘proper go’ you’d probably want a figure 2x to 4x this.
The figures given above assume the site is being set up on a white label. If you wanted your own completely custom system developed from scratch with a completely unique system and not relying on third party traders to manage the odds then you’re probably going to be adding another zero to the figures given above.
Q. What is a White Label?
A. Setting up and running a sportsbook from scratch is very expensive and labour intensive. Whilst all the big established firms have their own teams of developers and traders, many smaller sites choose to use the services of a white label provider – effectively taking an existing product and putting a new name and face on it.
The degree of control the white label has over their site will vary. Some white label providers allow their customers to change almost everything – including the margin used in the odds and the promotions that are offered. Others are more restrictive, meaning that they have very little say other than the name.
Q. Do All White Labels Look The Same?
A. Whilst researching the subject we found that most white label systems use modular layouts, which enable their customers (the betting sites) to change the way the site is laid out. This combined with a custom logo and colour scheme means that there will be some surface differences between white label sites, but the underlying framework will be the same.
To illustrate this we’ve screenshot four sites which all use the same white label provider and put them along side each other so you can play ‘spot the difference’:
Q. How do you Know all This?
A. Our of curiosity we attended an exhibition called ICE Totally Gaming in London. Whilst at the event we spoke to a number of white label providers about the costs and what was involved.
Q. Are the Sites Legal / Licensed / Trustworthy?
A. In order to legally operate in the UK, all of the sites must be licensed by the UK Gambling Commission – you can check if a site holds a license on this page of the UKGC website, although this is not normally necessary as the site needs to provide a specific link to their license on every page of their site (usually in the footer).
All of the sites listed on this page hold a UK license.
Q. Who Holds the License for a White Label?
A. There is no hard and fast rule about who the license holder of a white label brand is and whilst most sites will happily sit under the umbrella of the master license of the provider, sites can (and do) apply for their own license. We would imagine, however, that the vast majority of sites don’t go to the time, effort and cost of applying for a separate license.
The important thing to realise is that liability with the UKGC lies with the license holder. For this reason a site who uses the white label providers licenses is going to have to beat to the tune of the providers legal team.
Q. What About Casino / Bingo?
A. Running the inner workings of a sports betting site requires a lot of effort, particularly when it comes to setting the odds. This isn’t the case for casino and bingo sites and the barrier to entry is much much lower. Bingo sites in particular are relatively inexpensive to set up, which is why there is so many of them popping up and closing all of the time.