Bet365 Appoints Carat UK As Its New Media Agency
Bet365 has appointed Carat UK as its new media agency, ending a 14-year relationship with independent agency Republic of Media.
The decision followed a competitive pitch launched in June 2026 and run through the consultancy ID Comms, according to Decision Marketing. Campaign also reported the appointment on November 10.
Carat UK is owned by Dentsu. The move hands one of the UK's larger gambling media accounts to a network agency after more than a decade with an independent.
The Size Of The Account
Industry tracker COMvergence puts Bet365's UK media spend at nearly £44.5 million, according to Decision Marketing. Campaign cites the same tracker for a figure of $60 million, or £44.7 million. The two reports differ slightly, but both place the account in the mid-£40 millions a year.
Republic of Media held the account for 14 years, and Decision Marketing says the agency brokered Bet365's sponsorship of Sky's Premier League coverage earlier this year.
That deal saw Sky expand its arrangement with the operator from two packages to six, and it covers both pre-match and post-match coverage.
What Stays In Place
The appointment concerns media planning and buying. Decision Marketing notes that Newcastle-based Drummond Central handles Bet365's advertising account in the UK and Europe, so the creative side is not part of this change.
Bet365 also keeps CRM in-house. It manages that activity internally, supported by the marketing technology platform Optimove, which it appointed in 2022. Rather than acting as a service agency, Optimove provides the customer data platform and AI-driven orchestration software the operator's own teams use to segment players, automate multi-channel journeys and test campaigns.
The in-house team, led by chief customer experience officer Patrick Duffy, handles strategy, player lifecycle management, VIP engagement and campaign delivery across email, push notifications, SMS and in-app messaging. Reports of the appointment do not say when Carat takes over the account.
Decision Marketing adds that the pitch process began in June 2026 and was run through ID Comms, a consultancy that manages agency reviews for advertisers. That means the decision came after roughly five months of review, with Republic of Media, the incumbent, replaced rather than retained alongside the new appointment.
Casino Games Hub
The Advertising Backdrop
Bet365's most recent campaign launched in August 2026. It combines the We Know Betting global brand positioning with the Reasons campaign for the 2026/27 Premier League season, so the new agency inherits a brand platform that is already in market.
The appointment lands as UK gambling advertising stays under political pressure. Parliamentarians have been pushing for tougher limits, including a call from the House of Lords for a total ban on gambling advertising, and sports sponsorship spending has been moving too, with bookmaker sponsorship of British racing falling 17% in a year.
For operators, the agency choice is one of the larger levers on how money is spent across television, digital and sponsorship inventory, so a change of lead agency at a betting site of Bet365's scale is closely watched across the marketing industry.
