One of the hardest decisions as a business that sees consistent growth is whether or not to float on the stock exchange. No matter what industry the business is in, there are pros and cons on each side of the argument. One industry where many companies are present on stock exchanges across the World is the gambling industry. We’re going to take a look at which gambling companies have the largest traded stocks in the World.
GVC
The first company on the list of the largest stock exchange-listed gambling companies is GVC. There’s no doubt that you would have heard of some of their most popular brands, for example, Ladbrokes, Coral, Bwin, and Party Casino.
Ladbrokes Coral had initially merged before they joined GVC, formerly Bwin.party Group, creating one of the largest worldwide gambling companies. Ladbrokes and Coral are household names in the United Kingdom due to their betting shops being visible on the UK high street.
Now that the American market is opening up state-by-state, GVC is expanding there too. This is through a joint venture with MGM Resorts International, and the main brand on offer for players is BetMGM.
This is a smart move from GVC as regulatory headwinds in the UK have been reducing this main market’s revenue. The recent stake reduction on FOBTs hurt the revenues from their betting shop outlets. This was the start, and there are more expected regulatory changes to come in the UK. For example, casino bonuses such as free spins no deposit may likely have to be removed, as well as the possibility of reduced online stakes. The review of the Gambling Act 2005 is one that shareholders and potential investors should keep an eye on.
Flutter Entertainment
Flutter Entertainment is the amalgamation of a few companies that have merged over the years. Firstly there was the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair, this created one of the largest UK-facing betting operations. It was a match made in heaven as it paired one of the biggest online-only betting companies with a land-based bookmaker. Although, Paddy Power’s online operations also made up a significant portion of their revenue.
The other half of Flutter Entertainment was from the merger of The Stars Group with SkyBet. The brands behind these companies are the largest global online poker website and SkyBet that has now taken the UK top bookmaker spot ahead of bet365.
Like GVC, Flutter Entertainment is looking to the newly regulated market in the US to diversify and grow their portfolio. The group includes FanDuel, one of the first Daily Fantasy Sports companies along with DraftKings. The fact that FanDuel was being used by American players before the states started to regulate online sports betting gave them a huge advantage. Out of Flutter Entertainment’s total 2019 revenue the US made up 18%. Apart from TVG and Betfair, the rest is coming from FanDuel, and we expect that to be over 50% of the £376m in US revenue.
Wynn Resorts Limited
Wynn Resorts Limited is one of the largest gambling companies in the United States. They own multiple hotels and land-based casinos including the Wynn Las Vegas, Macau, and Encore Boston Harbor.
Wynn has also been quick to jump on the online betting and casino regulation in America. They made a big investment into the European online operator, BetBull. Due to not having an online operation, they wanted to gain that expertise fast, and investing in BetBull made sense. They had made an initial investment of $80m which resulted in 22% of the joint venture, they’ve since increased their holding though. The combined company is now referred to as Wynn Interactive, and Wynn Resorts now have approximately 71% of the ownership.
It’s clear that the ongoing pandemic has been an online accelerator for land-based US casinos. We expect WynnBet to be one of the major players in all regulated states. Once the current economic environment is over and land-based casinos open without restrictions, Wynn Resorts is an attractive stock.
Evolution Gaming
This final entry is slightly different from the others on the list. Evolution Gaming was founded in 2006 as one of the first live casino game providers in the industry. Since then, they’ve gone from strength-to-strength with their consistent innovation and game quality. They supply their live casino games to the World’s largest betting companies, including William Hill, GVC brands, and most recently the FanDuel Group.
Evolution Gaming is a Swedish company, but now with many offices around the World. They have offices and studios in 14 different countries including the UK, USA, Spain, and Sweden to name a few.
The company was in a prime position to become the market leader of live casino games as more players move their gambling entertainment time online. In 2019, company revenues reached €365.8 million with an EBITDA of €182.9 million. These numbers alone show why the company’s share price has been on a steady rise over the past five years and doesn’t seem to be slowing down soon.