bet365 Horse Racing Now Offers Fixed Odds From BetMakers in Colorado, New Jersey

BetMakers will be the new Bet365 horse racing fixed-odds provider in New Jersey and Colorado. Fixed-odds wagering allows bettors to lock in odds when the bet is placed, as with traditional against-the-house betting.

The pari-mutuel system, which is fading from use in much of the world, pools wagers, with payouts determined after taxes and fees are extracted. Sportsbook operators have expanded their reach into horse betting in recent years, hoping that the expansive global racing schedule can fill in gaps for bettors when traditional sports leagues are done for the day or season.

The British bookmaker was already live in those two states using data from Sports Information Services. Fixed-odds wagering launched in New Jersey in 2022 and Colorado in 2024. No other states have legalized fixed-odds wagering despite attempts in states with strong racing heritage, including Maryland and Kentucky.

FanDuel parent company, Flutter, bought the TVG horse racing platform in 2022 and launched an online video and betting site. DraftKings boasts a decided horse racing app. For the myriad of horseman’s associations and state regulatory agencies, the spread of legal sports betting and fixed-odds wagering as part of multi-sport parlays perhaps provides an on-ramp to a more prosperous future.

According to a BetMakers press release, under the two-year agreement, bet365 will be licensed to distribute BetMakers’ thoroughbred racing content to its customers in New Jersey and thoroughbred and harness racing customers in Colorado. Bet365 will pay BetMakers’ market access fee “based on a percentage of all fixed odds bets placed in New Jersey on all thoroughbred racing events it offers to its customers and a ‘content fee’ based on a percentage of all fixed odds bets placed in New Jersey and Colorado.”

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“This is a significant milestone for BetMakers and aligns with our strategy for fixed odds betting on thoroughbreds in the US,” BetMakers CEO Jake Henson said in the release. “The sports betting market in the US is starting to mature, and the interest from operators in horse racing as a product is expected to become even stronger. The high frequency of horse racing can deliver high engagement and high-margin returns to operators.

“We believe the opportunity for both BetMakers and the racing industry more broadly to be significant in the long term.”

In 2023, Australia-based BetMakers partnered with Monmouth Park to launch Monmouth Bets fixed-odds wagering through an app and at the Oceanport, N.J. thoroughbred track’s retail sportsbook.

The agreement allows bet365 to enter other partnerships – pending BetMakers sign-off – with other horse racing rights holders to offer third-party thoroughbred racing content to New Jersey customers. BetMakers hopes this launch will spur legalization in other states and similar deals with other sportsbooks.

“We are always actively working with rights holders to deliver opportunities for sustainable industry returns and open new opportunities in expanding growth markets,” Henson said. “This opportunity ticks both of those boxes. We look forward to helping our partners build out a global racebook.”

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