Rhino Bet shuts up shop in highly competitive UK market

Online sportsbook Rhino Bet has confirmed its exit from the UK market, informing its British customers via email that this was “not an easy decision”.

The bookmaker will close its website on 26 March and has informed customers that any open or ante-post bets that remain unsettled by this date will be voided.

Rhino Bet customers will, however, be able to withdraw any remaining funds from accounts until its departure date. The development showcases how it may have become more difficult competing in the highly saturated UK betting sector.

Britain is home to countless betting companies, with notable market leaders being Entain’s Ladbrokes and Coral, Flutter Entertainment’s Paddy Power and Betfair, 888’s 888sport and William Hill, and early online market mover bet365, among others.

Carving out a slice of the market cake in this competitive sphere is difficult, with many smaller firms often struggling without finding a niche audience. Some have succeeded in doing so, like Scottish-focused McBookie, Wales-focused Dragon Bet and VIP-focused Fitzdares.

Others have failed to find their feet, however, like American sports-oriented sportsbook Red Zone and Mansion Bet, which exited the UK entirely in 2023 and later shut down all of its B2C facing brands.

Rhino Bet, like Mansion, had embarked on an extensive sports marketing and sponsorship strategy in a bid to carve out its own niche in Britain. This saw a focus on lower league football, like a deal with East London team Leyton Orient FC, and horse racing, such as a deal with grade one jockey Henry Brooke.

The company – which was established during the pandemic and operated under a UK licence held by Playbook Gaming Limited – also tried to diversify its product with the launch of new slot releases and a bingo vertical.

Sadly for the firm this strategy has not repeated dividends in one of the world’s most fiercely competitive markets, going up against big budget firms with the cash at hand to sponsor some of the biggest teams and embark on mulit-million pound advertising campaigns.

Paul Pedrie, Director of McBookie, spoke with SBC News two years ago about how the firm secured its niche in Scotland, where it is one of the most popular online sportsbooks despite competition from the likes of bet365, Entain and Flutter.

“Regionalised bookmaking, we’ve been banging the drum for it for so long and there are massive gaps in the market, but you need to be strict in what you do,” Petrie said.

“You’ve got to know that that is what you’re targeting, instead of saying you’re going to do it and then completely ignore that aspect of it.”