The only way to win in gambling is to own the house, right? Well, it is true that the house always finds a way to win whether the gamblers win or lose and that is why gambling companies are so profitable. It is still very expensive to become the house which is why the biggest gambling companies end up taking over the small ones and setting trends on who gambles on what and that is why the interest in these companies is so high. Gambling companies have been accused over the years of profiting off gambling addiction and doing very little to help people that have lost livelihoods due to compulsive gambling. So big is not always better, and when it comes to gambling, these 10 are the biggest we’ve got.
Las Vegas Sands
Definitely the largest in the world, Las Vegas Sands is also the legacy of Sheldon Adelson and his partners. It started as a small partnership that transformed the dilapidated Sands hotel on the Vegas Strip into The Sands Expo and Convention Center and now owns some of the biggest gambling subsidiaries in the world. The Sands sold the Palazzo but still owns The Venetian in Vegas. Its biggest earners are its resorts and casinos in Macau and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. With earnings of over $12 billion annually, Las Vegas Sands is technically the Amazon of gambling. They have their hands in everything from sports to destination resorts but gambling is their biggest moneymaker.
Caesar’s Entertainment
This is the gambling company that has had more activity than any other major player in the industry for the last decade. In 2020, Eldorado resorts bought Caesars Entertainment for $18 billion in 2020 and then changed its own name to Caesars Entertainment making them one of the world’s largest resorts and gambling companies in the world worth over $35 billion. The CSR ticker is now popular on NASDAQ with annual revenues of over $3.5 billion. They Own Bally’s Las Vegas and The Cromwell in Vegas as well as all Eldorado, Isle and Harrah’s brands.
Flutter Entertainment
What happens when the two largest rivals in online gambling in Britain come together? Well, the result is Flutter Entertainment which started as Paddy Power Betfair after the companies merged in 2015. The company acquired the US fantasy sports betting company for over $158 million in 2018 and was fined in the same year for failing to protect its clients that showed symptoms of gambling addiction and also failing to screen for money laundering practices. They made their biggest revenue in 2020 as $5.6 billion after acquiring The Stars Group which essentially made them the biggest controller of online gambling brands in the world worth over $25 billion.
Evolution Gaming
The Covid pandemic hit brick and mortar casinos hard but Evolution Gaming only got bigger because their biggest earners are Live-Streamed dealer games. Evolution whose headquarters are in Latvia made over $560 million in revenues in 2020 after acquiring NetEnt which was the only other big competitor they had. They have transformed online gambling with their real-time dealers and studios that allow you to customize and interact with other players live when playing baccarat, blackjack, Hold’em and other online games. They also own multiple brick and mortar casinos in Europe but their Vide-Streamed dealer games are the real thing to watch.
MGM Resorts
MGM is one of the biggest brands when it comes to the US gambling industry. They don’t just own casinos, they construct and lease out hotels, retail spaces and other luxury resorts. The real estate side of the business is not our main concern so we will only focus on International which owns many casinos in the US, China and most recently, Singapore, Europe and Australia. They own the New-York York, All Mirage Casinos including The Mirage in Vegas as well as Excalibur and Luxor. In 2018, MGM partnered with Entain to set up their online sports betting platform in the US.
Aristocrat Gaming
Playtech is probably the largest Online Gambling Software and platform manufacturer in the world. Aristocrat acquired them in 2018 for $3.7 billion making it their largest purchase since they started buying mobile and computer gaming platforms. Aristocrat was known for many years as the company that manufactured slot machines becoming popular for the Hyperlink system that saw them supply slot machines to most of the biggest casinos in the world. They switched to online gambling mobile games and software and are now one of the biggest in the industry.
Entain
Entain moved its headquarters from Luxemburg to the Isle of Man in 2010 and since it became GVC holdings before changing its name to Entain, it has remained one of the biggest companies controlling online sports betting in the UK. Entain owns betwin, Sportingbet, Ladbrokes, Party Poker and many other big brands with a net worth well over $10 billion. The company refused an offer by MGM that would have seen it bought for $11 billion in what would have been one of the biggest takeovers in the industry. Entain, therefore, remains one of the biggest sports betting companies in the world.
Wynn Resorts
Wynn Resorts was fined $35.5 million in 2019 by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission which led to the resignation of its then CEO Mathew Maddox. This came at a time when the company was faced with allegations of bribing the GMING Commissions in the Philippines in a bid to enter the market. Wynn Resorts’ biggest moneymakers are Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn Macau and Wyn Palace Cotai. Most recently, it opened Encore Boston Harbor after spending over $2.5 billion in its construction and set up and it is now the company’s biggest project. The company was started by Steve Wynn, the former CEO of Mirage Resorts which was taken over by MGM.
Penn National Gaming
In 2005, Penn National Gaming was the third-largest gambling company in the US just behind MGM and Harrah’s. It started business as a racehorse betting company but it has since expanded and Hollywood Casino Corp. remains one of its biggest moneymakers. The company also separated into a real estate that focuses on the construction and development of resorts but the biggest moneymaker remains its casino and gaming businesses. Its subsidiaries have expanded over the years to include Rocket Games, Tropicana Las Vegas and now, Pinnacle Entertainment. The company assets are worth over $10 billion which makes it one of the world’s largest. They have limited most of their operations to the US though.
Draft Kings
There is still lots of disagreement on whether fantasy sports betting is gambling or a game of skill which is why some states don’t consider Draft Kings to be a gambling company. They are now the largest independent Fantasy Sports company in the US and probably the whole world since Fanduel was taken over by Flutter entertainment. You can bet on virtually any sport with Draft Kings from NBA to UEFA Champions League. It is a public listed company now with a market cap of over $20 billion and they have since launched their independent mobile casino app.