Bet365's Trip Stoddard Talks Missouri Launch, St. Louis Cardinals Partnership & (Of Course) Prediction Markets

By Bill Speros Dec 5th, 2025 10:30 AM EST

The wildest week in sports betting/predictions market space since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA in 2018 began this past Sunday night with the CEO of Polymarket headlining on “60 Minutes.” Less than 5 hours later, Missouri Sports Betting began with bet365 joining 7 other operators.

Then things got interesting. In a span of 72 hours:

• Polymarket began offering its app to customers in the U.S.
• FanaticsMarkets went live with sports and other contracts 24 states
• Kalshi teamed up with CNN and CNBC
• Connecticut issued a “Cease-And-Desist” order to Kalshi, Robinhood and crypto.com
• Lawsuits involving prediction markets proceeded in multiple states, including New York and Massachusetts

Bet365’s Head of Development Trip Stoddard follows it all on his phone. While he said prediction markets “offer an existential threat” to the legal sports betting space, his company has no plans to join the that party any time soon. Stoddard spoke with bookies.com Wednesday about his company's launch and the major issues in the sports betting space.

The Missouri Gaming Commission told bookies.com in a statement that Monday marked a “successful and largely uneventful first day” of Missouri Sports Betting. Missouri became the 39th state to launch legal sports betting and the first one since North Carolina in March of 2024.

Several books reported positive vibes. GeoComply said it registered 2.6 million geo-location checks in the first 24 hours of betting in “The Show Me State.” GeoComply added that 250,000 individual online sports betting accounts were active after Day 1, with approximately 62,000 added on launch day.

Bet365 Sought 'Legacy' Partnership With Cardinals

Bet365 tethered its Missouri Sports Betting license to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Redbirds were founded in 1892 and are the oldest major-league team in any sport located west of the Mississippi River.

“We announced our St. Louis Cardinals partnership months ago, so to see this to the finish line, it’s really exciting to get all the new customers on our platform and from everything we monitor, it's looking very, very, very good,” he said.

Bet365's partnership with the Cardinals came about because the company wanted to be the preferred partner of a legacy sports team in the state.

“When we think of heritage and you think of Missouri Sports, you think of the St. Louis Cardinals. They've got unbelievable reach and the business team there is incredibly connected to the customers. So for us wanting to launch in the state, be there day one, we wanted to offer something that felt local,” Stoddard said.

Bettors and fans of the Cardinals can expect branding and signage at Busch Stadium as well as special offers and promotions for Cardinals games and player props within the bet365 app.

Prediction Markets Offer 'Existential Threat' To Legal Books

FanDuel and DraftKings will launch previously announced prediction markets either this month or early in 2026. The NHL and UFC teamed with Kalshi for branding and cross-promotion. The NBA, MLB and NFL remain opposed to prediction markets due – in part - to concerns over integrity protections. Last month, the NFL said prediction markets “constitute illegal gambling” in a letter concerning player prop wages.  

For Stoddard, prediction markets pose as much a challenge for regulators, as they do for legal books. He previously worked at PointsBet and BetMGM.

“There's so many challenges to the legal (books) in terms of what regulators have to deal with in our legal states. I think predictions does introduce an interesting challenge for what they're going to do. How are they going to monitor this in other states? Are they going to be able to take the same safeguard that we've worked with every state regulator we're in? You make sure that if predictions continue at this pace, the customers are going to be safe? You are able to monitor problem gambling. You are able to monitor the integrity things with the leagues and with risky play. So I think it does offer an existential threat. But if it creates a new opportunity, I think everyone's going to have to work together to at least try to understand it more.”

To address concerns around integrity and scandals in sports betting, bet365 works closely with regulators and leagues to monitor for any suspicious betting activity, reporting any issues to an industry-wide integrity committee. That’s one key item prediction markets lack, industry leaders say.  

“It’s one of the few times we work with our competitors,” Stoddard said. “If anything fishy is coming in where if anything looks odd from what people are betting and something that's unusual, we will report that to the integrity committee and show our competitors.

'Prediction Space Evolving At Wild Pace'

The proliferation and exponential growth of prediction markets have been breathtaking for many to watch.

“Prediction space is evolving at a wild pace. I think if you would've asked me last week, I would've had an opinion that's already changed in the last six days. I currently can't fall asleep at night without looking on X or Twitter and learning 10 different things that happen. We are monitoring the industry, we're monitoring what people are doing,” Stoddard said.

“What's incredibly important for us, and you mentioned that we're a private company, we want to make sure that we can offer the best experience, but we also want to make sure we can offer the safest experience. So for us that's going to be age gating. The people that are able to use any of our products, it's going to be making sure that we have the RG (responsible gaming) tools that are going to allow them to set their deposit limits, their cool off times that's going to allow us to monitor, to make sure people are participating in safe play. Without those things, I don't see us ready to make any moves besides just watching how this is all going to shake out.”

Bet365 Favors State-By-State Vs. National Approcach

Bet365 remains privately held, with its founder Denise Coates reportedly owing 58% of the company. The company owns about 3% of the U.S. market and may be for sale. Private ownership has given bet365 a long runway to find its foothold in the United States. Analysts and shareholders aren't there to predict doom when a quarter fails to meet expectations. Bet365 entered the U.S. market more cautiously than some competitors. It now operates in 16 states. The company invests heavily in localized products, promotions, and marketing to grow its market share within jurisdiction.

“The United States is incredibly competitive. We've got some tech-first companies that are focusing on their app and are focusing on their experience. You can't just be there and hope that you gain market share," Stoddard said. "Being in a U.S. state doesn't get you anything. If anything, then you're just paying for a license to not do well. You really must come to every unique U.S. state with a marketing plan, a plan of how your app's going to be localized for those people with boost and promos on the teams they are going to watch, and on the players they care about. That's that's how you can be successful here. You can't just turn it on and hope it works,” he said.

Bet365 remains wedded to a targeted, state-by-state approach rather than a national one.

“You have to know the market, you have to know the teams, you have to know the customers, and you have to come in with a very, very competitive offer.”

For customers in Missouri, that means a bet $10, get $365 offer.  

“There's a lot of states around (geographically) that have legalized. Missouri was looking at them from a tax revenue standpoint and saying this could be amazing for us. For Missourians to now get access to legalize safe betting apps and betting companies, I think is really exciting. It's going to add entertainment to the games they're probably already watching,” Stoddard said.

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