Bet365 is clinging on to its place atop the Oddschecker standings and could be knocked off the summit for the first time in what feels like years. eGR report the gap between the Stoke-based form (18.8% share) and Betfair (16.6%) has narrowed from 4.2% to 2.2% in the past month. The increase came thanks to a 19% share of the Australian Open tennis market and good performance in both football and horseracing. BetVictor (6.3%) was the biggest mover by surpassing both Ladbrokes (6.3%) and Boylesports (5.6%) to join bet365, Betfair, Paddy Power (8.6%) and William Hill (6.9%) in the top five.
Paddy Power has confirmed they lodged a licence application in Nevada last year. Managing director Peter O’Donovan told eGR: “Our licence application is very thorough and comprehensive and we continue to work with the Nevada Gaming Board to progress the application.”
The Nevada Gambling Control Commission hasn’t yet added Paddy’s name to the list of 15 companies that have applied but O’Donovan believes other deals in North America have bolstered their hand.
“The B2B arm is an important arm for us and a good calling card. One of the reasons why we’re positive about our application in Nevada is because we have such good B2B relations with PMU (20% market share in France) and BCLC who have a very strong regulatory burden placed upon them so hopefully that will add credibility to our Nevada application as well. Both serve as a calling card for other countries as they open up,” he added.