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The boss of gambling giant bet365 took home at least £280 million ($379 million) in salary and dividends last year, even though the company’s profits dropped sharply, according to its latest accounts filed at Companies House.
A review of the filing by ReadWrite shows that Denise Coates received £104 million ($141 million) in salary alone. Rather than being highlighted upfront, that figure is buried in the accounts under key management compensation, instead of appearing as a single headline pay total. The accounts state: “Emoluments paid to key management personnel amounted to £104.0m.”
In addition to her salary, Coates benefited from a substantial dividend payout. The company confirmed in its strategic report that: “The Company declared dividends of £353.6m (2024: £110.0m).”
Bet365 chief Denise Coates is consistently one of Britain’s highest-paid bosses
As bet365’s controlling shareholder, Coates takes home the lion’s share of the dividend. Even using cautious estimates from analysts and past reports, that puts her total earnings for the year at at least £280 million.
That massive payout came even as profits took a hit. The company said profit before tax fell sharply compared with the previous year, largely due to rising costs and tougher regulation in key gambling markets.
Bet365 pointed to higher compliance expenses, increased spending on safer gambling measures, and a more difficult trading environment as the main reasons for the decline. Earlier this year, we reported that the company was even considering a landmark sale of the business for £9 billion ($11.94 billion).
Still, shareholders did very well. Dividends more than tripled year on year, showing that the company continued to reward investors generously despite the pressure on profits.
Coates’ pay doesn’t appear in a standard remuneration table, because private companies aren’t required by Companies House to publish one. Instead, the details are tucked away in the accounts, under notes covering related-party and key management transactions.
Taken together, the numbers reinforce Coates’ status as one of the highest-paid executives in the world, with annual earnings that dwarf those of FTSE 100 chief executives many times over.
Featured image: bet365 / University of Staffordshire via YouTube
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Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is now pushing back aggressively in court. A little more than two weeks after pleading not guilty, Rozier has taken the next step in his legal strategy by asking a federal judge to dismiss the charges against him entirely. The case is part of a sweeping federal sports betting investigation that includes more than 30 defendants.
Rozier was arraigned on two counts, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. His attorney, Jim Trusty, argues those charges should never have been filed.

Lawyers for Terry Rozier filed a motion to dismiss wire fraud conspir. charges. The scheme deprived a sportsbook of making informed decisions on accepting a wager, bc Rozier provided a co-defendant w certain non-public info. SCOTUS rejected the theory in Ciminelli v US they wrote pic.twitter.com/2v58BD0LO8
— Matt Rybaltowski (@MattRybaltowski) December 23, 2025

According to Trusty, the indictment fails to clearly explain how Rozier allegedly committed wire fraud, which he says is a fatal flaw. Without a valid wire fraud charge, the money laundering allegation would also fall apart.
CBS Sports reports that Trusty pointed to a 2023 United States Supreme Court ruling that spells out what prosecutors must prove in a wire fraud case. Specifically, the scheme must be intended to deprive a victim, in this instance sportsbooks, of money or property.
Terry Rozier seeks to dismiss federal charges in NBA gambling case
In a public legal filing, Trusty criticized how prosecutors have framed the case.
“The government has billed this case as involving ‘insider betting’ and ‘rigging’ professional basketball games,” Trusty said in a public legal document. “But the indictment alleges something less headline-worthy: that some bettors broke certain sportsbooks’ terms of use.”
Prosecutors claim Rozier was connected to a gambling ring that relied on sharing inside, non-public information. According to the indictment, Rozier allegedly told a co-conspirator, De’Niro Laster, that he planned to remove himself early from a March 2023 game while playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Laster then allegedly sold that information to gamblers, who distributed it through a betting syndicate.
Trusty argues the indictment does not establish criminal intent by Rozier.
“The indictment does not allege that Mr. Rozier ever placed a bet, whether himself or through a proxy, on any NBA game,” Trusty said. “Nor does it allege that he knew that Laster intended to sell this information to others, or that using it to place wagers would violate the Betting Companies’ rules.”
Prosecutors have until February 2 to respond to the motion to dismiss. The next procedural hearing for all defendants is scheduled for March 4. At a previous hearing, Judge Ramon Reyes said he intends for the trial to begin by September.
Rozier was arrested in October along with suspended Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, former NBA player Damon Jones, and dozens of others. Billups is accused of taking part in a separate gambling scheme involving rigged poker games tied to organized crime. Jones is implicated in both cases. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Featured image: The Financial Express via YouTube
The post Terry Rozier asks judge to dismiss charges in federal NBA betting case appeared first on ReadWrite.

Chicago is weighing a $16.6 billion city budget, and one part of it is catching the eye of the sports betting world.
The proposal would shake up how sports wagering is taxed inside city limits. Chicago is planning to significantly raise the tax on revenue generated from sports bets placed in the city. That potential increase has already sparked interest and concern among betting operators and industry groups watching closely to see how it could affect business in the Windy City.
The ordinance states: “There is hereby imposed a tax on each primary sports licensee operating in the City. The rate of the tax shall be 10.25% of the adjusted gross sports wagering receipts from sports wagers that are placed within the City.” The tax would apply both to wagers placed at approved physical locations and to bets made “over the internet or through a mobile application” when verified as having been placed within Chicago.
Chicago mayor is tight-lipped on the city’s sports betting tax
Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, has said he won’t sign or veto the budget, which means it would take effect without his formal approval. City officials say the higher sports wagering tax is meant to bring in new revenue, with the administration estimating it would generate at least $26 million a year.
If the measure moves forward, the city tax would sit on top of existing state and local taxes. Based on city estimates, that would push the total tax rate on sports betting revenue generated in Chicago to 32.25%.
Industry groups are already raising red flags. Representatives for sportsbooks warn that a higher tax rate could make Chicago a tougher place to do business, potentially leading some operators to cut back or leave altogether. They also argue it could drive bettors toward unregulated or illegal betting options instead.
In a letter, the Sports Betting Alliance warns that “the proposed budget and revenue ordinance would impose a City licensing requirement effective January 1, 2026, yet the City does not currently have a licensing rubric that contemplates online sports wagering operators.” The alliance argues that without “defined terms, application standards, required documentation, and administrative procedures,” operators would have “no meaningful way to comply with the ordinance upon its effective date.”
The group is urging the city to delay implementation by at least 180 days, cautioning that a temporary shutdown of legal online sports betting in Chicago could undermine the city’s revenue goals and “drive consumers to online platforms that dodge laws that ensure consumer protection, age verification, and responsible gaming protections.”

Chicago’s proposed sports betting tax is budgetary smoke and mirrors that risks undermining a legal market that protects bettors — and could leave the city with nothing to show for it. https://t.co/CGU0aXOpU1
— Sports Betting Alliance (@SBAllianceUS) December 16, 2025

The Sports Betting Alliance also wrote on X: “Chicago’s proposed sports betting tax is budgetary smoke and mirrors that risks undermining a legal market that protects bettors — and could leave the city with nothing to show for it.”
The sports betting provision is just one of several tax and fee changes folded into the budget ordinance, which stretches across dozens of chapters of the municipal code. City council members are expected to weigh the potential revenue boost against concerns about how the change could affect the legal sports wagering market in the nation’s third-largest city.
Featured image: Canva
The post Chicago weighs major sports betting tax hike in $16.6 billion budget appeared first on ReadWrite.