U.S. Online Betting Boom Is Carving Up Century-Old U.K. Bookies
- Online gambling growth has sparked trans-Atlantic deal spree
- Entain rival 888 is buying William Hill’s non-U.S. operations
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At the height of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1886, two entrepreneurs started taking commission on English horse races and founded Ladbrokes. They were followed in 1934 by bookmaker William Hill.
Between them they’ve saturated Britain’s high streets with thousands of betting parlors over the past century, but those shops are now trading hands in a gambling spree driven by the U.S.’s 2018 legalization of sports wagering, and an explosion in online betting.