The Sky Bet app is brought to you by Bonne Terre Limited, an Alderney registered company, licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and Alderney Gambling Control Commission. Sky Bet is a trading name of Bonne Terre Limited and part of the Sky Betting and Gaming Group. The Sky trademarks are owned by Sky UK Limited and are used under license. Sky Bet, sponsors of the Football League, bring you our most advanced sports betting app for the iPhone, so you can check your accumulators, singles and the latest in-play odds anywhere.
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
Sky Bet Betting App Game
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.
Sky Bet Betting App Download
Last Updated on February 21, 2021
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Sky Bet App – Get £20 Free + £5 in recurring bets
In this review of the Sky Bet app, we show you how to download the mobile app, claim the free bets plus take a tour of what’s on offer. This betting app is BSkyB’s answer to sports betting and casino on the move or on the home computer and it’s clear that much thought has gone into the app’s design. It’s a responsive app that detects which device that you are using so there’s no need to be concerned over whether you’re an iPhone, Android, BlackBerry or tablet user. The Sky Bet app majors in sports betting and gives new customers a great deal with a £20 in free bets. And there’s more where that came from.
As well as the free bet on entry (credited after you place your first bet of £5) there’s an opportunity to join the Free Bet Club. What’s that? Well, it lets you earn another £5 a week in extra free bets. So, just how do you get your hands on these free bets…
Sky Bet App: Get the free bet on signup
For starters, make certain of claiming the intro free bet which is as mentioned is a £20 free bet. Read the quick guide below to get signed up first. Once done (registering only takes a minute or so) you’ll qualify for claiming the free bet.
First, secure the free bets by going to the Sky Bet registration page.Press “Join Now” and complete your details.
Get the App
*Update* Since the advent of the BookieBoost app, we recommend installing it for Androids and iPhones/iPads. BookieBoost centralises your betting in a single app, giving you access to Sky Bet as well as the introductory offers and specials from more bookmakers. BookieBoost also gives users live score updates, plus extras like betting calculators for football and horse racing so it’s well worth having on your smart phone.
You can get BookieBoost using the download links for Android and Apple devices below:
We also like that BookieBoost de-clutters your home screen by keeping all your betting needs in one place.
Next Up – Using the App
If you’ve followed the steps as outlined above including accessing the Sky Bet Mobile app via the BookieBoost icon on your home screen, you’re now good to go.
There is nothing more that you need to to get using the app but you do also have the option of installing an installed app on certain mobile devices. However, the way shown above avoids using extra space on your mobile device and ensures that you don’t have any app crashes happen.
This is a mobile site and detects the make and model of your mobile device, serving up the correct viewing experience for your particular mobile. It also works on normal home computers too.
Sky Bet Betting App Free
Our Review of the Sky Bet App
Taking more of an in-depth look around this app, it really is a nice looking mobile app and it is clear that the people who developed it though long and hard about the user experience. There are fantastic sports areas, particularly football and horse racing, and the casino & games have been designed for ease of use.
Then of course is the important matter of the free bets for all new customers. You’ll no doubt be as keen as our review team to find out how to spend the £30 introductory bet and we are pleased to report that it’s a piece of cake. Every new customer to the Sky Bet is able to get (at time of review) to a free bet up to a value of £30. It’s just a straightforward matched bet.
Centre-top on the screen is a main menu that drops down to show you the main areas of the app itself. When this has been expanded, you will notice the main links to football and horse racing as well as the Free Bet Club and Bet to View. There is also a useful A-Z list of everything else that they run betting markets on. The racing section features streaming video of live races which we’re seeing on a lot of apps.
As mentioned earlier in the review, the Sky Bet app must be a close runner for being the most handsome betting app around. The colour scheme looks nice and shiny with the Sky Sports themed feel and on top of that it’s lightning fast in terms of user experience. BSkyB have really done a brilliant job with this design, just like they have with the quality of their Sky television productions.
It’s worth checking out the wide range of betting options for football which must include just about every league and competition known to mankind. Try your luck with accumulators which are easy to put together to gain much greater odds with combined bets. With the in-play odds continually being quoted during events it takes the stress out of placing a bet just a few seconds after it has begun. Had a flashback there to the bad old days when picking the winner but not getting to the front of the queue in time!
Sky Bet Price Boost
You will likely see ‘Price Boost’ here and there on the Sky Bet app and this means that you can get enhanced odds that you’ll probably not find anywhere else. This is for selected events and is a promotional initiative which you should keep an eye out for.
What is the Free Bet Club on the SkyBet App all about?
Once you’ve used the introductory free bet, that’s not the end of it on the Sky Bet app. Another innovation that Sky Bet have which is different from the rest is a way to keep the free bets coming and they call it the Free Bet Club.
Under the terms of the Free Bet Club, you can qualify every for a free bet by placing a £5 accumulator with combined odds of 5/1 or more before midnight Sunday. A free bet will then be credited by 7pm on Monday for using on any sport that you choose. Here’s the catch – If you miss a week you’re out of the Free Bet Club!! Like all good clubs though there’s a way to get back in. The way to do this is to place a new £25 accumulator.
In addition to the Free Bet Club, Price Boost and their Best Odds Guarantee for UK and Ireland horse races, the Sky Bet also has a free £10 bet bonus for the casino games. This can be used for on ‘Sky Vegas’ which is available to all customers at any time upon first play.
Sky Vegas is another virtual roped off area where you can indulge in casino games. Bet you never guessed that. Anyhow, after using it and using up the £10 free bet, at the time of this review you can have a 200% first deposit bonus up to £1000 and a free Sky Vegas Millions ticket on top of it.
Sky Bet Betting App Live
Offers are subject to change but there always seems to be something appealing going on across the Sky Bet app and Sky Bet web site.
That concludes our comprehensive analysis of the Sky Bet app. You might also wish to check out the rest of the best mobile betting app shortlist contenders. Visiting from Canada? Here’s a country specific list from Mobile Betting Apps (external site). Also on this site, see our Sky Bet mobile reviews for Android, iPhone, iPad and Blackberry devices.
Sky Bet Football
Sky Bet Mobile app
App price: Free