William Hill Sportsbook

Heritage and founding

William Hill began in 1934 when Yorkshire-born bookmaker William Hill set up a telephone and postal betting office in London. He had taken bets informally since his teenage years, but this launch established William Hill Ltd, the business that would grow into one of Britain's 'big three' bookmakers. In 1966, following the legalisation of retail betting shops, the company opened its first high-street shop in Leeds and expanded into one of the UK's largest betting shop networks.

Growth, listing and the online era

The company was acquired by Grand Metropolitan in the late 1980s, changed ownership several times, and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2002. It bought Stanley Leisure's 624 betting shops in 2005 and formed William Hill Online with Playtech in 2008, building a digital portfolio that included sports betting, casino, poker and bingo. By 2020 the group employed around 12,000 people and ran roughly 1,400 UK shops.

US entry and William Hill Sportsbook

William Hill’s first major American move came in 2012, when it acquired Nevada race and sports book operations including Lucky's and Cal Neva and began operating at Las Vegas properties such as the Palms Casino Resort. After PASPA was overturned in May 2018, William Hill Sportsbook was among the first operators to take mobile bets in New Jersey through Monmouth Park. It subsequently launched in more than a dozen states, including West Virginia, Iowa, Indiana, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee and Arizona.

Ownership transformation

In September 2020 Caesars Entertainment agreed to acquire the whole William Hill group for £2.9 billion, completing the deal in April 2021. Caesars kept the US operations and integrated them into Caesars Digital, moving many players onto the Caesars Sportsbook app. In July 2022 Caesars sold the non-US business — UK shops, williamhill.com, international brands and Mr Green — to 888 Holdings for £2.2 billion. 888 rebranded as Evoke plc in 2024, retaining William Hill as its flagship consumer brand outside the US.

Business model and products

William Hill makes money principally from sports wagering margins and, outside the US, from a broad online gambling portfolio. In the US the William Hill Sportsbook app and retail Race & Sports Books offer pre-match and in-play betting, futures, same-game parlays, odds boosts and cash-out on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, soccer, golf, tennis and racing. In the UK and Europe, williamhill.com combines sports betting with casino, poker, bingo and virtual sports, while the betting shop estate supplies retail racing and sports betting.

Market position and regulation

In the US, William Hill Sportsbook operates under Caesars Digital across 20+ states and competes with DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and others; the Caesars Sportsbook app has become the primary digital platform in many of those states. The non-US business remains one of the UK’s best-known bookmaking brands under Evoke. Regulation is split accordingly: UK and European operations are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and other national regulators, while US sportsbooks are licensed state-by-state by state gaming regulators.

Recent direction and leadership

The US side of the brand is led within Caesars Digital, with Eric Hession serving as President of Caesars Digital from late 2024. The non-US business is led by Evoke plc under CEO Per Widerström, CFO Sean Wilkins, chief product and technology officer Guy Cohen, and chairman Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn. Evoke has focused on integrating the William Hill acquisition, reducing debt, and strengthening its UK and international online operations, while Caesars has continued to consolidate its US sports betting technology and retail presence.