Who became the best bookmaker?

Publication date: 12 Jul 2022

Experts in the betting industry have named the best bookmakers in Russia: leaders in website and app performance, development of the best loyalty program and welcome bonuses, provision of the best odds and customer service.

Table tennis is the new sports favourite in Russia

In the first quarter of 2022, the amount of earmarked betting contributions by the Unified Gambling Regulator to sports leagues and federations reached 3.2 billion roubles.

1. The Football Union of Russia received the most. 
2. The Table Tennis Federation came in second place. 
3. In third place was the Russian Tennis Federation.

The amount of earmarked funding is influenced by the success of athletes, interest in the sport and its mass appeal. The unexpected placement of table tennis in the second place is due to its growing popularity during the quarantine period associated with COVID-19. In contrast to many other sports fields, table tennis did not have to be suspended, and matches were played almost around the clock. And that’s with the minimal cost of running such competitions.

A total of 114 sports federations in Russia receive funding from the Unified Gambling Regulator. 

Also, in the early summer of 2022, the Unified Regulator concluded an agreement, according to which a part of the earmarked bookmakers’ fees will be used to finance the “All-Russian Federation of Mas-Wrestling”. This is a martial arts sport which originated in Yakutia and consists of pulling sticks by athletes.

Sitting opposite each other, the competitors rest their feet on a special board and, on command, wrestle the stick from their opponent’s hands or pull him to their side.

Who became the best Russian bookmaker? 

At the end of June 2022, the international sports and betting awards – Bookmaker Rating Award 2022 – took place. 

Among the licensed Russian bookmakers, the best were the following:

• For the second year in a row, Fonbet won the RB 2022 Award in the Grand Prix: Best Bookmaker of the Year category. “This award also entrusts us with a great responsibility. And we will do our best not to let our customers down. We are developing, we have many cool new ideas, we have already done a lot, for example, we strengthened our team,” said Alina Jakirevich, marketing director of BC Fonbet.
• Liga Stavok has won the BetON Mobile Cooperation of the Year special award.
• PARI won the Best App category. “We are happy to receive the award. And this award confirms that we have chosen the right strategy in terms of betting on app development,” said Ruslan Medved, CEO of BC PARI.
• Betcity for the second year in a row has won the Best odds according to ODDS.ru nomination. “Our traders publish odds first in the world. We offer our players special bets, super expresses. Players know which bookmaker to bet with,” said BC’s head of content Vladimir Prokofiev. The BC also won in the Best Welcome Bonus category.
• 1xStavka won the Brand of the Year award for the second time in a row and was also voted best in the Best Line category.
• BC OLIMPBET won the Best Bookmaker according to Runet category and also received the RB Award in the Best Customer Service and the Best Bookmaker in Kazakhstan categories.  “This is real recognition from our users, many thanks to them. I would like to address to them: I promise we will try even harder for your sake,” said Konstantin Gusev, Development Director.
• Tennisi won the prize for the Best Loyalty Program.
• BetBoom won the top prize in the Best eSports Bookmaker category. “We consider it a well-deserved award, as over the past year we have made significant achievements in eSports, which were noted not only at betting awards, but also in marketing competitions,” said BetBoom’s PR Director, Mikhail Danshin.
• Bookmaker Melbet was the winner in the Most Reliable Bookmaker category.
• Leon won the prize in the Best Website category.
• Astrabet won in the Debut of the Year nomination.  “Now entering the betting market is already an achievement not everyone is capable of. We are planning to break into the ranks of the industry leaders. That is our goal,” said Daniil Bizyukin, marketing director of BC.

Also on 6 July 2022, the Better Collective’s annual Bookmaker Awards were summed up. It is an award that recognises the best bookmakers in 10 categories across 4 markets in Europe: UK, Poland, Denmark and Sweden.

• In Denmark, bookmaker Unibet was awarded for the best football and tennis odds, BC BET365 was awarded for the best customer service and the best welcome bonus.  Danske Spil was awarded for the best banking.
• In Poland, bookmaker Betclic was named best for tennis odds and best choice in the market, BC Superbet was awarded for the best customer service and was named “overall winner”. Fuksiarz.pl has the best bonus offer, NOBLE bet has the best football betting odds, STS has the best banking and the best user interface. Read about how to promote betting and gambling in Poland in the 3SNET review!
• In Sweden, BC Bet365 was named best for its hockey betting odds, customer service, best welcome bonus and most user-friendly website interface. SVENSKA SPEL was awarded with the Audience Award, COOLBET was named best for football odds and UNIBET was awarded for the best banking service.
• In the UK, SPORT NATION offers the best football betting odds, William HILL has the best customer choice, Virgin BET has the best customer service, BETFRED offers the best frequent flyer bonus program. Bet365 won prizes in all other categories.

As a result, BC bet365 won the best bookmaker in the UK, Sweden as well as Denmark and in Poland, Superbet won most of the nominations.

On 22 September 2022, the winners of the annual SBC Awards will be named in Barcelona, Spain. 10bet, Bet365, Betsson Group, CODERE, FanDuel Group, Kaizen Gaming, LeoVegas Group, Novibet, Sportsbet.io, VBET will compete for the title of Best Bookmaker. The Best Online Casino category features 1xBet, Betsson Group, Campeón Gaming, Genesis Global, Kaizen Gaming, LeoVegas Group, Novibet, Videoslots.

Legal betting sites in Russia: which are the most visited?

In June 2022, according to the Similarweb service, 32.45 million users visited the websites of legal Russian bookmakers. At the same time, the traffic decreased by 24.7% (compared to May 2022).

• The biggest bookmakers in terms of traffic in June were Fonbet (7 million users), Winline (6 million) and Liga Stavok (3.7 million).
• The leaders in terms of growth in traffic were BC Leon (+35%), Melbet (+11.76%) as well as Astrabet (+9.62%).
• In terms of viewing depth, BC Marathon, Tennisi and Betcity were in the top three.
• Players spent the most time on the websites of Marathon, Betcity and Liga Stavok.

New opportunities in the betting market – sweepstakes! 

The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has signed a permit for the advertising of horse betting. This is being done to attract additional funding for horse racing hippodromes, which are currently experiencing serious money problems.

• It is now possible to place advertisements as part of the broadcasts of horse races and competitions, as well as on specialized websites and in thematic media. 
• Advertisements can be placed at racetracks and horse testing venues, on animal gear and on jockeys’ equipment. 
• The sweepstakes will also be able to incorporate images of animals and people in their advertising. 
• In addition to sweepstakes operators, betting companies will also be able to place their advertisements during the broadcast of horse races. However, they will not be allowed to use human or animal images. 

The amendments to the law will come into force on 1 September 2022.