Evoke plc

Evoke plc, formerly 888 Holdings Limited, is an international sports betting and gambling company. It owns brands such as 888casino, 888poker, 888sport, Mr Green, and William Hill. Business operations are led from its headquarters in Gibraltar, alongside satellite offices in Bucharest, Ceuta, Leeds, London, Malta, Sofia, and Tel Aviv. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company's core markets are the UK, Italy, Spain, Romania and Denmark, which together account for 90% of its revenue.[3]

History

The business was founded in May 1997 by Israeli entrepreneurs Avi and Aaron Shaked and Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak, two sets of brothers, as Virtual Holdings Limited. The company's first website, Casino-on-Net was launched at that time, and the administrative centre was established in Antigua

Brands

888casino

888casino is an online gambling site operated by 888 Holdings.[35] It was founded in 1997 and is based in Gibraltar. It is one of the Internet's oldest casinos.[36] In 2013 it became the first exclusively online casino to be licensed in the United States.[37]

888poker

888poker is 888's online poker room, launched in July 2002.[38]

888sport

888sport is 888's sports betting brand. The online bookmaker was launched in March 2008.[39] The site offers both horse track betting and sports betting, in addition to access to 888 Holdings' other sites. Sports leagues on which bets can be placed include those of Europe, North America, and elsewhere. This includes live betting, where bets can be placed on in-game action, in addition to pre-game bets. The brand is the title sponsor for the 888Sport Tingle Creek Chase,[40] in addition to the 888Sport Magnolia Stakes.[41] In 2010 888sport became the title sponsor of the Fontwell Park Racecourse, renaming it the 888sport Grand Stand.[42] 888sport also works in social media surrounding sporting events, distributing content to its followers form other content sources,[43] and has held online sports video competitions.[44] In March 2019, 888 Holdings paid £15 million for Dublin-based Dedsert Ltd, which provided the sportsbook platform for UK-licensed bookmaker

William Hill

888 has owned international bookmakers William Hill since June 2022.[20]

Bingo brands

888 Holdings owned and operated several different online bingo sites. They offer 90-ball and 75-ball bingo games, along with online slot machine games, progressive jackpots, and scratchcards. The games all run on a no download required basis and have an emphasis on community and chat rooms. In December 2009, 888.com purchased brands including Wink Bingo, Posh Bingo, Tasty Bingo, and RedBus Bingo from Daub.[46][47][48] 888ladies.com was 888's online bingo room. The bingo site was launched in February 2008 after 888 acquired online bingo company Globalcom. 888ladies offers 75-ball, 90-ball and 5-line bingo games as well as instant games, casino games and scratchcards.[49] In January 2013, 888ladies.com launched a mobile app for iOS devices, and later for Android devices.[50]

Sports Illustrated Sportsbook and Casino

Sports illustrated Sportsbook is a brand that combines 888 and Sports illustrated and offers players sports betting offerings. The company combines sports offerings from 888 in addition to sports data from Sports illustrated and is currently live in the U.S. states of Colorado, Michigan, and Virginia. On February 9, 2023, SI Sportsbook launched its casino product in Michigan, marking the official expansion of the sports book product into the casino space [66]

In March 2024, 888 announced that it would be selling its US online gambling assets to Hard Rock Digital, concluding its strategic review of its US B2C and exiting the US market.[67] The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions, expected to be finalized in stages by year-end. 888 plans a controlled exit from its US B2C operations by the end of 2024, anticipating a recurring annualized benefit to EBITDA of £25 million starting in 2025, with £10 million reinvested for growth. However, the exit will incur one-off cash costs of approximately £40 million, including a brand license termination fee. Additionally, 888 will end its partnership with Authentic Brands Group, paying $25 million in cash and an additional $25 million by 2029.[68]

type	Public
traded as	lse: EVOK
isin	isin: GI000A0F6407
foundation	1997
location	Gibraltar
industry	Gambling
key people	Mark Summerfield (Chairman)‡R1R‡ Per Widerström (CEO)
revenue	£1,754.5 million (2024)‡R2R‡
operating income	£(0.2) million (2024)‡R2R‡
net income	£(191.4) million (2024)‡R2R‡
website	https://www.evokeplc.com/

History

Players in the United States

Controversies and penalties

Potential breakup

Brands

888casino

888poker

888sport

William Hill

Bingo brands

Sports Illustrated Sportsbook and Casino

Senior management

See also

External links

References