Ok Google Sky Bet
Editors Note:
SkyBet are one of the most well known bookmakers given their advertising platform on TV but when you start to dig deeper into the company you find there are some seriously alarming questions over the brand.
Sky don’t actually own SkyBet. Which is weird considering the branding. They are owned by a Canadian company who have no relationship with Sky.
Besiktas v Galatasaray Odds as betting.betfair.com preview the Turkish Super Lig match on Sunday 17 January for their Football Bet of the Day column. Sky Bet free bets are non-withdrawable and must be used to place a wager as described above. If there are any winnings which result from use of the free bets, they will not include the bet stake but can be withdrawn as normal.
On top of that SkyBet recently terminated deals with a number of their marketing partners overnight and suspended payments. This is a massive red flag for any company and I’m no longer comfortable recommending a bookmaker with, what from the outside appears to be, a question mark over their finances.
If the company are struggling financially then players funds are potentially at risk, as are payouts, and until resolved you’d be much better off sticking to a safer option.
Check out either Bet365 or Betvictor, both 5 star bookmakers, for better alternatives to Sky Bet.
Review Ratings
Licensing & Safety
- UKGC license
- Alderney license
- Strange ownership?!
- Financial questions marks?!
Although Skybet have all the correct licenses they need to operate, from the UK Gambling Commission and Alderney Gambling Control Commission, they aren’t actually owned by Sky and have a big question mark over their financials after sudden terminations with marketing partners who claim unpaid debts.
Bonne Terre Limited, the company that own Skybet, are licensed by Sky to use the Sky trademark so they can operate the Sky Bet bookmakers. This just feels like an odd situation and we’d be much more comfortable if Sky owned and ran the site.
At no point in any of their advertisements, on Sky TV, is it made clear that Sky don’t own SkyBet. In fact as a punter you just automatically assume they do by association.
With these two key points in mind, at this point in time we’ve assigned Skybet with our highest possible risk rating. We wouldn’t keep our money on the site so we don’t expect you to.
If you’re looking for an alternative option… check out our bookmaker reviews.
Deposits & Withdrawals
- Instant deposits available
- Credit & debit cards
- Skrill accepted
- PayPal accepted
Google Gravity
Visa
£0
Instant
£10 – £10,000
Mastercard
£0
Instant
£10 – £10,000
Maestro
£0
Intant
£10 – £10,000
Neteller
£0
Intant
£10 – £50,000
Skrill
£0
Intant
£10 – £100,000
PayPal
£0
Intant
£5 – £5,500
Paysafecard
£0
Intant
£5 – £750
BACS
£0
3-10 days
£1 – £100,000
Markets & Odds
- 30+ sports
- Average odds
- In-play betting
- Limited live streaming
When it comes to sport, Sky is one of the biggest name in the United Kingdom, covering all kinds of different events on their many television channels. This massive scope also extends to the huge amount of different sport markets that they have on their gambling site, therefore meaning that there is something for everyone.
The sports that they offer markets for are:
- Athletics
- Aussie Rules
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Bowls
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Cycling
- Darts
- eSports
- Football
- Formula One
- Golf
- Greyhounds
- Handball
- Horse Racing
- Ice Hockey
- Lotto
- MMA
- Motor Sports
- Music
- Netball
- NFL
- Politics
- Rugby
- Snooker
- Speedway
- Tennis
- TV & Films
- UFC
- Virtuals
- Volleyball
- Winter Sports
- Wrestling
As can be seen, if you can find the sport to watch on Sky Sports, then the chances are you will also be able to find a market for it on this site. Sky have used their considerable resources to provide one of the most comprehensive list of sports around, as well as to make sure that all of the sports covered are covered in great depth. This means that from low league encounters through to World Cup matches, you will be able to find what you are looking for here.
A note on the odds: whilst the odds you’ll find on Skybet aren’t a million miles away from the other major bookmakers they are by no means the most generous and when it comes to football for example you’d be much better off at one of these sites.
Google Earth
In-Play Betting
- Expected range of events
- Cash out offered
- Live stats & scores
- Limited live streaming
As you would expect from a site of this size, Skybet also offers a comprehensive in-play section, which means that you are able to place bets as the event is being played out. Odds are constantly updated on this feature and it is offered for nearly all matches that are ongoing, regardless of the sport.
The live menu can be found right in the middle of the homepage, with details of the match and the number of different bets that are being offered. Once an event is selected you’ll be presented with a console where the live score is at the top, odds below, a graphic displays the current state of play and clicking the stats icon in the top right switches to match stats.
However in-play bet types are limited and the odds available certainly seem tight when compared to other online bookies. These two negatives put them right back in the middle of the pack in this category.
To be honest there are better live options out there. For the top two check out our Bet365 review or our BetVictor review.
Live Streaming on Skybet
Given that Sky have the television rights to pretty much every sport worth watching you’d think they’d have a pretty stellar live streaming section… well unfortunately you’d be wrong.
In fact they recently reduced their live streaming service and now only offer UK and Irish horse racing. You must bet at least £1 per race to watch.
All in all it’s vastly disappointing and when you compare them to Bet365 who stream over 100,000 events per year on top of horse racing it doesn’t look great. We’ve been forced to downgrade Skybet as a result here. Click the previous link to read our Bet365 review if live streaming is important to you – you’ll be looked after there.
Overall Review
After conducting our Skybet review we felt that, given our concerns, they were worth no more than a 1 star rating.
They have all the correct gambling licenses required to operate an online bookmakers but as we’ve mentioned previously in this review they company isn’t owned by Sky themselves and they’ve recently had disputes with marketing parters over contracts and payments.
It’s a real shame that the above two issues overshadows what could be quite a solid online bookmakers. Their depth and range of markets is decent, odds are competitive if not outstanding and there’s plenty of offers (such as Super 6) to keep punters interested.
A lack of live streaming does also let them down, especially given the TV platform… but as we know Sky don’t seem to own SkyBet so I guess that explains why this is an issue.
If they are able to resolve on going disputes with their marketing partners then to us that would prove they at least have the financial security to upgrade their rating. Unfortunately at this time we wouldn’t use Skybet and therefore would be uncomfortable recommending you do.
See bookmakers we DO recommend in our reviews section.
User Reviews
- September 17, 2018
Had big problems getting my money off of Skybet. Put £30 into my account. Placed a few bets and ended up winning a 4-fold acca on the footie for £156.73. Went to withdraw it and they want me to send in my ID. Have now sent it three times, to different people, and the situation isn’t resolved. Just pay me my money, you didn’t ask for ID for me to deposit!
- September 24, 2018
Didn’t realise that Sky didn’t actually own SkyBet. Thanks for pointing it out. These big companies never really let you know what’s going on do they. I do Super6 on Sky, in a league with a few of my mates, but won’t be using them for anything else after reading this. Probly switch back to Bet365 tbh.
- January 12, 2019
Never ever bet with this bunch of cowboy’ s… Tried to have an even £30 with skybet, only to be told they’ll only take an even £10!!! This week tried to place £30 at 7/2, only to be told we’ll only lay you £2,15p at 7/2!!!! I’ve withdrawn every penny from my account, and can’t see how they’re still trading… STAY away from this joke of a company. They should have their licence revoked…
Avoid Sky bet at all costs.. Take your bets when you’re losing, but dare to win and all the restrictions kick-in!!! Bunch of cowboy’s. Should have their licence revoked.
Sky Bet FAQ
The Sky Bet bonus is currently worth just £10 to new customers. Which when compared to other companies is outrageously small. Compare it to the bet credits at Bet365 and you’ll wonder why people bother with SkyBet at all.
It’s a very good question. Sky actually sold Sky Bet to The Stars Group in 2018 and therefore retain zero ownership over the brand so whilst you think you’re getting the a brand with Sky’s long standing reputation you getting it’s name only.
Why Are There So Many Negative Reviews Of Sky Bet?
The main reason there are so many negative Sky Bet reviews online is that just before they were sold the company cut all ties with their promotional partners and broke financial agreements worth millions of pounds. If they can do that to their so called ‘partners’ then can they really be trusted by players?!
Have you seen the Sky Bet ads on TV, with Jeff Stelling and co telling you to bet on football with them? Are you reading this Sky Bet review because you’re wondering whether you should sign up?
Well, DON’T DO IT!
Actually, I’m really glad you came here first, because it gives me the chance to save you making a big mistake.
Our Rating: (0.5 / 5)
Don’t get me wrong. There was a time when Sky Bet used to be one of my favourite places to bet online. But that all seems a long time ago now.
These days, Sky Bet is no longer owned by Sky. Things have gone completely downhill since Sky sold out the brand, and these days it is, in my opinion, one of the worst online betting sites out there.
In this detailed Sky Bet App review, I’ll tell you all about what’s happened over the last few years. You’ll learn why I no longer trust them with my money, and why I wouldn’t install their mobile app if it was the last one on Earth.
Alternatives To Sky Bet
If you came here looking to download the Sky Bet app right now, hopefully the rating has put you off already. So here are some great alternative betting apps that you can trust. Try one of these instead.
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Overview & History
As I said earlier, when Sky Bet was originally owned by Sky PLC, everything was pretty good. It was a nice place to bet, had good offers, helpful service, and even a pretty decent app back in the day.But that was then and this is now. Unfortunately, they decided to put profit over their customers. In 2014, Sky decided to sell the majority stake in Sky Bet (which includes Sky Vegas and Sky Bingo) to a private venture capital group called CVC Capital Partners. This was good news for their shareholders, but bad news for their business partners, and most importantly, their millions of punters.
From that point on, Sky still had a minority share in the business, but they were no longer in control. CVC were making all the decisions, and typically venture capitalists only care about one thing – profit.
How Sky Bet Went Bad
Things didn’t change immediately, but over time punters, myself included, began to notice that things were changing. As someone who looks for value bets, I saw the odds getting progressively worse. Others noticed the standard of customer service going downhill. The Sky Bet app listings on Google Play and App Store started getting filled with tons of very positive reviews which were obviously fake.
In 2015 and then 2017, Sky Bet made moves to completely shaft the hundreds of marketing partners who they had made deals with to promote the brand.
In case you think this review is just sour grapes – it’s not. I dodged that particular bullet, and Mobile Betting Site has never carried any ads for Sky Bet. Others did however, and were cheated out of millions of pounds.
Then in 2018, Sky Bet were fined £1 Million by the UK Gambling Commission for failing to protect vulnerable customers. This included deliberately marketing to, and accepting bets from problem gamblers who’d self excluded.
The action against Sky Bet, which is listed on their UKGC license, states that (and I quote):
- 736 self-excluded customers were able to open and use duplicate accounts to gamble
- Around 50,000 self-excluded customers received marketing material by email, mobile text or a push notification within a mobile app
- 36,748 self-excluded customers did not have their account balance funds returned to them on account closure.
Not good at all, and that is a massive understatement.
Selling Out Again
A few weeks later, Sky Bet was sold again, this time to Stars Group. That’d be the same Stars Group that was fined $731 Million by the US Government for illegal activity including fraudulent payment processing.
Does that fill you full of confidence? Me neither.
So even though they’re still allowed to keep using the brand name, and even though you see the likes of Jeff Stelling advertising them, Sky now don’t own any stake in Sky Bet at all. Both they and CVC have made a nice fat profit from shafting their partners, marketing to vulnerable problem gamblers and then selling out to a company with a dubious history.
Now you know why I’m advising you not to join Sky Bet!
Is The Sky Bet App Any Good?
In the interests of fairness, it’s worth having a quick work about the Sky Bet app itself. If you look at the app in isolation, and ignore the fact that by using it you’re betting with a company that I believe cannot be trusted, then the answer is yes it’s OK. Although nowhere near as good as it used to be.
The latest versions of both the Sky Bet Android app and it’s iOS counterpart were installed and tested by our team in 2021 and they worked OK. There was no particular performance degradation, and in general they were fairly easy to use.
I am very suspicious about some of the reviews of the Sky Bet app on Google Play and App Store. I’ve been doing this a while, and I’m able to spot a fake review fairly easily.
I’m not saying all their reviews are definitely fake, because I obviously can’t prove that. But when an app gets a bunch of 5* reviews all at once from users that had never previously posted anything, it does raise suspicions.
I’ll leave you to make up your own mind on that. But as for me, my very low Sky Bet review rating is based more upon them as a company than the quality of the app itself.
Conclusion: Is Sky Bet A Scam?
I’m certainly not telling you that Sky Bet is a scam, so any lawyers reading this, you can put your pens down and shove your threatening letters where they belong. What I am doing is giving you factual evidence, linked with appropriate citations, which shows you what has happened to the brand between 2014 and today.
My personal opinion, which I am allowed to share, is that in 2021 Sky Bet is a brand which I do not trust, and never will do again. This is down to my own experience betting with them, as much as the other factors described above.
Our Rating: (0.5 / 5)
My advice is do not bet here. There are plenty of better alternatives, so choose one of them instead.
Last Updated on February 21, 2021
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