Entain : set for unprecedented surge in online bets for the Grand National

8 April 2021

Entain, the leading global sports betting and gaming entertainment group, is set for an unprecedented surge in demand as its UK customers take advantage of its great offers and industry-leading technology to bet online for this weekend's Grand National. With betting shops still closed, the race looks set to become the UK's biggest ever online sports betting event.

Entain is the lead operator across retail and online in the UK through its Ladbrokes and Coral brands. Customers of both will be wholly supported by Entain's proprietary technology for the first time this year, after the Group completed the brands' migration to its global platform from third parties in 2020.

Overall, around 13 million people, roughly a third of UK adults, typically bet on the Grand National every year. Entain said that pre-pandemic around 40% of its Ladbrokes and Coral customers placed their bets in shops, with the vast majority of those expected to bet online instead this year.

Around four million online bets could be placed by customers of Ladbrokes and Coral this weekend more than doubling peak demand of previous major events. This will be, for example, around ten times the level of online bets placed by its UK customers on last year's FA Cup Final. Entain has enhanced its online customer experience, as well as providing sufficient capacity to manage surging demand, meaning its customers can focus on enjoying the whole experience of this iconic British event.

'We're thrilled that this year's Grand National event will once again be live and are ready to give customers their best experience ever across all our brands, notably through Ladbrokes and Coral,' said Sandeep Tiku, Chief Operating Officer at Entain. 'We're determined to give all customers a fast, thrilling, and seamless experience notwithstanding unprecedented numbers betting online.'

'We've successfully completed one of the biggest migrations of brands and customers seen in our industry to our in-house global technology platform to give all our customers the best experience,' Mr. Tiku continued. 'We're ready to handle many times the number of customer bets and logins per minute on Grand National day as on a very busy Saturday.'

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About Entain plc

Entain plc (LSE:ENT) is a FTSE100 company and is one of the world's largest sports-betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands; Sports Brands include Bet.pt, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds, Optibet and Sportingbet; Gaming Brands include CasinoClub, Foxy Bingo, Gala, Gioco Digitale, partypoker and PartyCasino. The Group owns proprietary technology across all of its core product verticals and in addition to its B2C operations provides services to a number of third-party customers on a B2B basis. The Group has also entered into a joint-venture with MGM Resorts to capitalise on the sports-betting and gaming opportunity in the US. The Group is tax resident in the UK with licences in more than 20 countries, across five continents.

For more information see the Group's website: www.entaingroup.com