Online sports betting in the United Kingdom is big business, and it’s only getting bigger. With over two million customers betting online, the industry is booming and that has created opportunities for new online bookmakers to make their mark.

Using social media, innovative new approaches, and fantastic offers and bonuses, these new bookies are modernising the industry and changing the future of online betting for everyone.

Many online punters, especially the older generation, will ask ‘Why choose a new bookmaker over a more well-known and established company?’.

Well, there are several reasons why we would suggest choosing a new betting company to register with.

The first thing that springs to mind is the fact that new operators must do everything they can to gain a customer base, so they must be more innovative and offer punters more than established operators need to. Customer retention is key.

Therefore, better customer offers, massive welcome bonuses and price boosts which the more established bookmakers do not offer are commonplace among newer operators.

Innovative website design, improved customer experience, and social media use are all things that new bookmakers will look to use as a way of enticing and retaining customers.

People new to sports betting may find it difficult to differentiate between the older, more established operators and newer bookmakers.

Well, the best way to tell the difference is by looking at odds, bonuses and offers available, and market presence.

Here are a few things to look out for, in more detail, when trying to determine if a site is a new bookmaker or an old one.

Greater Odds

New bookmakers must offer customers a better deal, in order to gain and retain their business. They want people placing bets on their site, so the odds they offer will likely be greater than that of an older bookmaker who already have an established customer base.

Visit several different sites and note the odds for the same bet, or type of bet. You will probably notice new operators offering odds at least one, maybe two, percentage points better than other bookmakers.

Market Presence

There is an endless stream of TV adverts, online pop-ups, and signs advertising betting companies. The more you see a company advertised, the bigger and more established they are. Newer operators generally do not have the resources available to invest in such over-the-top advertising. While older companies will continue to promote themselves, and make their presence felt in the gambling industry, new betting companies will rely on social media shares and word of mouth.

New Customer Offers

New sports betting companies are entering into an already crowded market, so they must do something special to entice new customers.

That leads to insanely high welcome bonuses and new customer offers. From 200% first deposit bonuses, to free weekly bets and super boosted first bet odds, new bookmakers will be adventurous and extremely generous with their offers. Older operators may offer a small welcome bonus, or possibly up to 100% first deposit bonus, but new bookmakers must outdo them or risk not attracting customers to their site.

So, look at welcome bonuses that a few different sites offer. The bigger the offer usually indicates the newer the bookmaker.

Mobile-Friendly Betting

Most bookmakers, whether new to the market or fully established, will offer mobile betting options. Mobile apps and offers exclusive to mobile users are commonplace. But, newer bookmakers tend to lean more heavily towards mobile use. These companies are usually created by younger, more tech-savvy people, and are looking to appeal to a younger market. This means mobile betting may even be more of a focus for them than normal online betting.

Available Markets and Betting Options

In this day and age, all betting companies must provide a wide range of betting options to their customers. Several different sports markets and bet types are in-place to give the customer a varied experience and more choice.

However, new bookmakers may offer betting options and markets you are unable to find at older operators.

E-Sports, more virtual betting options, and smaller niche markets will be more readily available on newer betting sites.

Some new companies will even give these smaller markets a more prominent position on their site, knowing they are offering something unique and which will attract a niche customer base.

As mentioned already, there are several different reasons for choosing a new bookmaker over an older one.

Here, in more detail, we give some advantages for using a new bookmaker.

Improved Functionality and Innovative Features

New bookmakers have access to the latest website designs, and software, to make them stand out from the crowd. They can make themselves faster, easily accessible, and visually better than some of the older bookmakers.

Established companies have built a customer base, who expect a certain experience when logging on. They know how to work their way around the site, where their favourite sports are situated, and how to create and place a bet. These things are expected to stay the same.

In contrast, new sites can use different approaches and provide different functionality. They can take advantage of social media, with some customers able to place a bet via messenger services or get the best offers posted direct to their timeline.

New bookmakers also know which markets are most popular, by carrying out research, and can group these together on their site.

This gives customers faster access to their favourite markets and makes it easier and quicker to place a bet, which is a vital thing for those with little spare time on their hands.

Better Customer Care

New online betting companies do not have the vast customer base that older, more established bookmakers have. So, they will be more customer focused and more likely to respond to queries or problems.

With a bigger company, you may have to wait several hours to live chat with a customer service operative or several days for an e-mail request to be responded to.

Response times with newer bookmakers, who are looking to retain your custom, will often be a lot quicker.

This may not be true for all new operators, but the better ones will always look to go above and beyond for their customers.

Greater Odds and Better Bonuses

With newer bookmakers needing to attract customers, they must offer fantastic welcome bonuses. But, that isn’t enough. They must also provide better odds than established companies, in order to retain the customers they do attract.

This is a massive advantage that new online betting companies have over older bookmakers, and clever customers can make the most out of it.

Punters can search around different sites for the best bonus or best odds on a particular bet, although they don’t have to stick to just one company.

New customers can sign up to several sites and take advantage of increased price boosts, greater odds, and massive deposit bonuses.

Daily offers, free bet clubs, and special one-off bonuses are other promotions you will likely find new bookmakers offering to their customers.

E-Sports Betting and Niche Markets

E-Sports is now globally recognised as a sport and is slowly emerging as an extremely popular betting market.

Betting on the outcome of a computer game played by other people is becoming a lucrative industry, and betting companies are catching up with this trend by offering markets on games such as StarCraft, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike.

The advantage new bookmakers have over older, more established companies, is that they can market themselves towards e-sports punters from the beginning and give this market a more prominent role on their website.

Older companies may have added a few e-sports betting markets, but punters would need to actively search for them to find what they’re looking for. With new companies fully aware of the popularity of such markets, they are already one step ahead of their more established rivals.

Other smaller niche markets, such as Mixed Martial Arts, ice hockey, and even darts can also be pushed as a marketing tool of newer companies. Some bookmakers even offer political markets and betting options regarding the outcome of TV shows.

By offering unique and niche markets, with several different betting options for each, new companies can attract niche punters away from older companies where the focus is more on popular sports such as football and horse racing.

This is a great advantage in a modern and more technology focused world of gambling.

Social Media and Mobile Friendly

In the world we live in, people seek instant gratification and they do not want to wait around for anything.

So, using social media and mobile betting to provide up-to-the-minute odds changes and special offers can be an extremely powerful tool.

New bookmakers, which are likely to be created by younger people and aimed at a younger market, will be more likely to use these platforms.

People spend most of their lives on a mobile phone or other device, searching through their social media timelines and keeping up-to-date with latest news. Betting companies have latched on to this and use sites like Facebook to attract and retain customers.

Many new companies provide latest offers, odds changes, and request a bet options directly through social media.

Some even offer the chance for customers to place their bets using messenger applications, whilst others will utilise social media by offering special bonuses or price boosts if a customer uses the link posted by the betting companies social channels.

Obviously, as with everything in the world, if there are advantages to using something, there will undoubtedly be disadvantages as well. Using a new online bookmaker is no exception to this rule.

However, we believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages when it comes to betting with a new bookmaker.

Here are a few disadvantages, which could also be seen as advantages for using older, more established operators.

Number of Available Markets

Newer companies will be smaller than their older, better known rivals and will in turn have less of a customer base and a smaller budget.

This is likely to impact on the amount of betting markets they offer.

More established bookmakers have hundreds, possibly thousands, of markets available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, throughout the year.

Smaller, less established operators may have to start with a select number of markets and aim for a certain customer base.

So, punters looking for an almost endless number of markets, from maybe fifty different sports, will be put off using a new betting site who only offer markets on maybe eight or nine sports.

Given time, these newer companies will grow but starting out with less options may prevent them attracting the customers needed for that growth.

Lack of Bonus Options

It’s likely that new betting companies will offer larger and more enticing welcome offers and bonuses. However, more established companies will undoubtedly provide more bonuses for their customers.

This is largely due to the fact that new companies must concentrate first on attracting customers, whereas older bookmakers already have an established customer base and can focus on retention by providing such things as loyalty bonuses and free bet clubs to long-term customers.

Winnings Capped

As mentioned before, new companies are likely to have a significantly lower budget than older operators. So, they may have to put a cap on winnings to prevent them paying out more than they can afford.

Bigger companies, with bigger budgets can offer punters the chance to win unlimited amounts of money. In contrast, smaller operators may be forced to adopt a more tight-fisted approach.

While this may not be an issue for most, there are a vast number of punters who regularly bet in the hope of winning that life-changing amount. Those people are not likely to bet with a company who sets them a maximum amount that they could possibly walk away with.

The gambling commission regulates all gambling in the United Kingdom, under the 2005 Gambling Act. This act was introduced to protect children and vulnerable adults, as well as bring online betting within regulations.

All online bookmakers must be licenced and registered with the correct authority, to ensure they are operating within the laws.

Legit betting operators will carry a message on their website, which can usually be found at the bottom of every page but at least on the home page, which will tell the customer the site is registered and legally allowed to operate.

It will have the address where the company is registered, with which gambling commissions the operator is registered with, and a licence number.

If this information cannot be found on a betting site, do not use it. It is likely this operator is not registered and that the rules for providing gambling services do not cover them. You will likely be ripped off and end up out of pocket, even if you place a winning bet.

Always check for the information which tells you the operator is operating legally before registering and depositing money with them.

Bookmakers in the UK must also promote responsible gambling and be affiliated with agencies which promote and regulate this practice. One such agency is GambleAware, who provide free help, advice, and support to those who feel they may have a gambling problem.

Again, the operator’s affiliation with such an agency will be shown on their website. You should also find links and text on the site promoting responsible gambling.

If you have any doubts about the authenticity, or legality of a betting website, leave the site without registering or submitting personal details

To help you improve your experience of betting online and get the most out of it, we have a few helpful hints and tips which we feel you should know.

Have Multiple Accounts

There’s no law which says you must stick to one bookmaker at a time, so our best tip is to have several different accounts with different operators.

That way, you get to take advantage of several different welcome offers, first deposit bonuses, and first bet price boosts. You also give yourself the chance of making a bigger profit, by being able to compare odds and ensure you get the best deal.

Another advantage to having different accounts with different companies is that you will be in-line to receive several different loyalty bonuses and random special offers. This is another simple, but effective, way of increasing the chances of making a decent profit.

Shop Around for The Best Deal

If you only want to register with one operator, to prevent overspending or the chance of a problem occurring, we would suggest shopping around before deciding which bookmaker to go with.

Read reviews, check out the available sports and market options, compare welcome offers and deposit bonuses, and look at the odds provided on the bets you are most likely to have.

Once you’ve done all that, you will have an idea of which betting company will provide you with the best deal for your requirements.

There’s no point in choosing a bookmaker who is offering a £20 free football bet if you are only going to be betting on horse racing, so don’t just sign up to the first site you visit.

Utilise Social Media

Betting companies use social media to attract new customers and to build a fan base, so customers should also be suing it to make the most of their betting experience.

Follow or like the operator(s) you have accounts with to stay up to date with new markets, special offers, loyalty bonuses, price boosts, and news from the betting industry.

We also recommend following reputable tipsters, in order to gain more knowledge of the sports you like to bet on and maybe give yourself more chance of making a profit.

Set a Budget and Stick to It

This is especially good advice to new sports betting punters, but something everyone should adhere to.

Set yourself a budget, which is money you can afford to set aside to gamble with. This is sometimes called a betting bank and it helps you regulate your spending and stay gambling responsibly.

This tip can be made easier by using new bookmakers who offer greater odds, which gives the customer the potential of a higher profit for the same outlay.

A Footnote on New Bookmakers

In this article, we have tried to give you as much information, help, and advice about new bookmakers as we possibly can.

We hope it has been helpful and informative and that it has persuaded you to open an account with one of the new UK bookmakers we have listed.

In a crowded industry, chock full of different companies promising customers the world, it can be difficult to take a chance on a lesser known company. There will be naysayers, and stick in the muds, who will stay betting with just one company for several years and not venture off the beaten track.

They may tell you that sticking with what you, or they, know is the best thing to do.

But, we truly believe that punters can increase their enjoyment of online sports betting by giving a new bookmaker a chance. Not only can it open your eyes to a new way of betting, but it may also introduce you to sports and markets you previously didn’t know.

Innovation and a modern approach to betting is at the forefront of most new operators, as well as offers, bonuses, and boosts which give new customers a fantastic chance of making a profit.

Add to that, features and niche markets you may not find with more established and well-known companies, and there are more reasons than not to take the plunge and sign up today.