Ladbrokes Coral and bwin parent company Entain is testing its skills in the free-to-play games space with the launch of a new app, Seven, in the UK.
The FTSE 100 group’s new product is football-focused, with the firm aiming to keep momentum running from the FIFA World Cup while also noting changing betting behaviour during the tournament.
Seven’s launch comes ahead of the return of Premier League football on 21 August and EFL football on 14 August. Entain seems confident that betting trends seen in the World Cup will continue into the domestic season.
A particularly notable trend was a customer preference towards individual player markets. The group noted that anytime goalscorer betting volume across its brands quadrupled during the 2026 World Cup when compared to the 2022 tournament.
It has also developed the brand with a specific age bracket in mind, the 25-35 category. This “digitally native” demographic has shown a preference towards player-led fandom, according to Entain’s research, and may be more inclined to fantasy-style games.
“Seven is a great example of how Entain can innovate at pace,” said Bajey Patel, Entain’s UK Managing Director.
“By empowering a dedicated team to think differently and move quickly, we have built a genuinely distinctive product that broadens our portfolio and showcases the strength of our innovation culture.”
Although initially developed for the Premier League and UK market, Entain hopes to take Seven – or similar products – live in other markets and across other sports.
Entain’s spot on the UK league table
Seven functions like a typical free-to-play fantasy game, with users choosing a squad of seven footballers each gameweek. If three chosen players score either the first or last goal in a match, prizes are awarded.
The app features live updates and rolling selection deadlines. A league and social competition element will be introduced in October, similar to the format employed by the Premier League’s own in-house fantasy product.
Entain states that Seven has filled a “clear gap in the market” with a design which looks to keep players engaged on a weekly basis, as opposed to knockout-style free-to-play formats where users are limited after one incorrect suggestion.
Prizes include a weekly £100,000 jackpot, free bet rewards, and smaller cash prizes.
Seven has been partnered with Ladbrokes, one of Entain’s two flagship UK betting brands. Winnings from Seven are awarded through the Ladbrokes platform, and betting markets on Ladbrokes will be tailored specifically for Seven players.
The drive to boost engagement in its home market of the UK comes not just during the transition period of the World Cup-Premier League but also amid a changing dynamic in the country, with a burdensome new tax regime amplifying pressure on the market.
By launching Seven, Entain may be hoping that it, and particularly Ladbrokes, will stand out from the crowd as other major betting companies get product enhancements or marketing campaigns underway.
“The UK is the natural place to launch Seven,” Patel added. “It is one of the world’s most engaged football markets, home to the Premier League, and a market where Ladbrokes has deep heritage and scale.
“Seven allows us to build on that strength with a fresh, free-to-play product that reflects how fans follow football today, combining player-led fandom, live match engagement and social competition in a simple weekly game.”
Entain makes the most out of Angstrom investment
Seven has been developed by Angstrom, Entain’s data forecasting and sports modelling subsidiary. The London firm was acquired by Entain in 2023 for £81m, with the initial aim of strengthening the sports modelling capabilities of the US-facing BetMGM joint venture.
This was at a time when Entain was on a role with acquisitions. The company had just acquired SuperSport in Croatia the year before, and in 2023 also acquired Polish market leader STS Holdings.
These acquisitions laid the foundation for Entain CEE, its Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) joint venture with EMMA Capital. However, three years down the line, and after facing some investor criticism at the time of the STS deal, Entain has opted to begin selling off Entain CEE to EMMA Capital.
With the company’s H1 results coming up on Thursday 13 August and profitability high on the agenda, further sales of assets could be on the agenda. By the looks of today’s product announcement, however, Angstrom won’t be one of them.
Entain has detailed a border ambition to create app-first experiences and products that can be scaled across its different brands, national markets and different sports. The launch of a similar app partnered with a brand like bwin could be on the horizon.
Ross Jarvis, Director of Strategy at Angstrom, said: “Seven started with a simple belief: football fans deserve a free-to-play experience built around how they actually follow the game today. Fans are increasingly drawn to players, stories, data and real-time interaction, yet much of the category has remained largely unchanged for years.
“What makes it different is its simple first-or-last goalscorer mechanic, combined with a modern product experience. We’ve been able to operate with an entrepreneurial mindset, testing ideas quickly, learning fast and building relentlessly around the customer.
“The result is a product we believe can become a core part of adult football fans’ weekly routine and, over time, scale into new markets and sports.”
Entain will publish its Q2 financial results on Thursday 13 August.
