We can comfortably say that the tides of change have already swept the field of entertainment.
There have been many shifts in the format and purpose of entertainment throughout the last few centuries, and the birth of digitalisation will forever be a moment zero. It’s a reality of the utmost importance to how we perceive our free time and the intentions it entails.
What’s so fascinating about gambling is that it’s a hybrid of past and present shape. Narrative has gone through books, cinema, and video games, but its morphing status has changed its interactive approach and its relationship with imagination. It’s an example that shows the exceptionality of gambling.
The fascinating part is that at its core, gambling is exactly the same in the physical and digital realm when it comes to its effect on human physiology and psychology. It has the same rules and still uses some of the same mechanics and tropes. It is evolving, doing so rapidly, but it does so on a very old foundation.
More than others, some companies have ridden the wave of change more successfully. It has brought them corporate status and a certain gravitas on the market. It has also created a certain sense of influence over the competition, direct or indirect.
With this article, we invite you to explore the largest gambling companies in fascinating detail. Their name speaks volumes about the online gambling market, allowing you to insert yourself into their lore.
A Disclaimer on Criteria
By reading this list, you will observe that there’s a certain kind of combination between both a physical and an online presence.
The truth is that a truly standout online presence requires strong support from the world of resorts.
Online gambling is, at its core, a work in progress for many global markets, and physical gambling experiences are here to consolidate them with lobbying and consistent investments for increasingly viable products and services.
The names that we will showcase are, first and foremost, behemoths that leverage their resorts as both real estate assets, entertainment service provision, and a gateway towards their online gambling products. Let’s see how these operations go ahead!
Model 1 – Resort Power Leveraged Into Online Presence
MGM Resorts International
MGM Resorts International is an incorporated giant that oversees properties, an aviation line, and, very importantly, in the case of this article, the BetMGM online gambling platform.
Those who know anything about the current state of Las Vegas know that The Strip (and not only it) is a two-horse race between MGM and the next intro that we’ll discuss in this list. As such, the MGM name has become an institution of gambling, which has led directly to the popularity of its online gambling presence.
The company has immensely visible and popular resorts like the Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, Parl MGM, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, and Luxor, among other properties in states like New York, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey. It even has its own foot in the door in China and Japan.
BetMGM has become one of the biggest names in the American online gambling sphere, while LeoVegas acts as the company’s European arm. As a result, the total operation of the company has total assets worth over $42 billion in 2024.
Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment is another immense competitor that has been making the rounds in the gambling world in slightly different ways than MGM. While its direct competitor on the strip has been trying to make a bit more of its branding, Caesars has been making interesting moves in its own right.
This company, along with its real estate twin, Vinci Properties, is the spawn of Eldorado Resorts buying out Caesars Entertainment’s older iteration: the previous Harrah’s Entertainment. As a result, this company is a continuation of a firm that started in 1996.
This merger has allowed Caesars to have properties in Reno and other parts of Nevada, but also in Colorado, Ontario, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, and many more.
This USA-centric approach proves itself relevant in how the company has approached its online gambling actions. Most interestingly, its first major strategic choice was to buy British giant William Hill for close to £2.8 billion.
They made this move in April of 2021. Afterwards, they decided to strip the US-based offering of William Hill, turn it into Caesars Sportsbook, and then sold the rest of the business (To 888 Holdings) for approximately £2.2 billion in September of that same year.
Further online acquisitions were the iGaming sector of WynnBet (in Michigan) in 2024, a move that succeeded Caesars Entertainment’s partnership with Penn Entertainment in order to launch ESPN Bet.
With over $32 billion in total assets reported in 2024, Caesars Entertainment is still behind MGM, but it’s definitely an immense company in the world of gambling.
Model 2 – Companies Snowballing with Acquisitions
Flutter Entertainment plc
Unlike the two big shots from Nevada, Flutter is all about the online gambling realm. When adjusting from pounds to dollars (for a better understanding of reported numbers), Flutter Entertainment is also in the range of $32 billion in total assets.
What makes Flutter particularly intense as an entry on this list is the fact that its strategy has always been about becoming a whale in the iGaming market by continuing to buy itself into various markets and different domains of this industry.
The history of this company says as much: it’s the result of British rivals Paddy Power and Betfair – one that started in 2015 and finalised in 2016.
Since both companies continued to work towards the same goals, they entered the fantasy sports market by acquiring Draft. However, the big-money move came when they entered the American market following the 2018 overturn of the Federal ban on sports betting by acquiring FanDuel.
Other acquisitions that have continued to consolidate Flutter were The Stars Group in 2019, India’s Junglee Games and Italy’s Sisal Gaming in 2021, and then MaxBet and Snaitech in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Their operations keep getting larger and larger by leveraging the success of previous acquisitions in order to buy a stronger presence in new markets.
Entain Plc
Entain Plc, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in the Isle of Man, represents yet another immense name that comes from a contingency of American investors that incorporated the initial firm in Luxembourg.
It’s a company that has also specialised in iGaming by leveraging itself to continue to expand by acquiring other brands.
It began by operating Casino-Club in 2001 and grew its operations throughout the next decade. Eventually, Entain collaborated with William Hill to buy out Sportingbet and acquire its operations outside Spain and Australia in 2012.
Its next major move was to buy out Bwin.Party and Ladbrokes Coral in 2016 and 2017, respectively, consolidating a growing portfolio of brands. It also understood that the American market is ripe for progress, partnering with MGM to place its foot in the door.
Despite talks about MGM buying out Entain at the start of the 2020s, the company decided to stick to its own and continued to swallow names like Avid Gaming (Canada), SuperSport (Croatia), and BetCity (The Netherlands), adding them to an already global presence.
Overall, Entain proved itself the proponent of an immensely successful business model, working well despite the surprisingly high turnovers in its senior management.
Conclusion
This list proves that the primary ways to grow an online gambling business are the same ones that have always worked in other business sectors.
Model 1 shows us that growing in a sector can give you the legs to expand into an adjacent one, while Model 2 is proof that growing a selection of brands can bring the liquidity to buy even more brands.
However, the most important thing to remember if you’re a consumer of iGaming is that you should play responsibly!
