The official founding date of the Ladbrokes bookmaking service as we know it today is pegged at 1902. We will begin with the oldest bookmakers and work our way forward in time from there. In fact, all of the 10 oldest betting sites predate the internet by a significant margin. Bet365, BetFred and William Hill were also each active well before “internet” was even a word. The Ladbrokes name, for example, has been active in some form another across three distinct centuries: the 1800s, 1900s and 2000s. Some of the oldest online bookmakers can dated in terms of centuries. We chose the second option as it takes a longer-term view and shows just how experienced some of the oldest bookmakers really are. The other was to document the oldest bookmakers that existed in the real world before going online. There are two ways we could have gone with this post as far as defining “oldest.” One was to document which online sports betting sites actually launched first.

These are the 10 oldest online bookmakers still alive today. The fact that these books have remained standing over the years while many others came and went is testament to savvy management and business sense. Today, we will be looking at the oldest online bookmakers that are still alive today. The best indicator of any betting site’s financial viability can only be wrought from the test of time. But for every Bet365, there are a hundred sports betting sites that failed and left their players high and dry. We get used to seeing the same big names year after year chugging along, taking bets and paying winners. We tend to take for granted just how competitive the business is.

Taking bets from the public is a high volatility business and many betting sites have found their brand stuck for cash and unable to pay out customers. Bookmaking is a tough and unforgiving business that has seen many promising startups go live, begin making a name for themselves and then implode in spectacular fashion as a result of small mistakes that spiral out of control.

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