International cryptocurrency sportsbook and casino Stake is joining forces with BetMakers as it aims to expand its racing offering to the international market. The multi-year deal will see the latter provide its B2B solution and RaceOdds+ product to Stake, which already has a large footprint in the sports betting sphere.
It signifies a major step forward for the fast-growing company, whose customers will be able to access TotePool in the near future, opening up a traditional form of horse race betting to a wider audience. Other factors to the deal will see Stake benefit from BetMakers’ pricing and trading capability, the BetStream racing vision player, and the Racelab suite of products.
BetMakers’ CEO Jake Henson believed the agreement validated the company’s RaceOdds+ product and its broader global racing strategy.
“Providing Stake with our pricing, trading, content, and global tote capabilities will support its expansion into racing,” Henson said.
Stake director Jarrod Febbraio said the partnership would allow the company to introduce tote betting while contributing to the racing ecosystem. “Offering pooled wagering through the Global Tote Hub supports the long-term sustainability of horse racing,” he said.
What racing expansion means for Stake
Lovers of the sport of horse racing are renowned for their expertise and in-depth understanding of its intricacies. While other crypto sports betting markets cycle through customers quickly, Stake will view horse racing as an opportunity to deepen user loyalty and diversify revenue streams, in turn increasing lifetime value.
The intentional nature of TotePool betting leans towards a stickier engagement in comparison to fixed-odds and opens the door to legacy betting audiences that crypto sites like Stake have yet to fully capture and realize.
There are plenty of risks and UX challenges attached to the deal. Some observers will point to the problems of implementing an old-school betting system that requires patience into a fast-moving sports turnover model.
Significant education will also be required on several fronts. Any traditional TotePool bettors that Stake captures are likely to be taking their first steps into a cryptocurrency betting environment. New-age customers raised on the premise of fixed-odds wagering will need a clear and concise briefing on how the TotePool works if Stake is to tap into the platform’s full potential.
If rolled out as planned, the move would place Stake ahead of other major crypto-led sportsbooks such as BC.Game, and Roobet, none of which currently offer regulated access to global pari-mutuel (tote) racing pools. Most crypto sportsbooks remain focused on fixed-odds sports betting and casino products, with racing typically limited to a narrow set of bookmaker-priced markets where it is offered at all.
Whether the release goes to plan in such a complex regulatory environment remains to be seen.
The legal complexities for TotePool on international stage
Stake will run into roadblocks when introducing TotePool to its global audience. At the time of writing, pari-mutuel racing betting is licensed in Australia (where Stake does not operate), some parts of Europe, and select Asia-Pacific racing markets.
In the United States, Stake operates solely as a social casino platform, preventing it from offering real-money sports or racing markets. The sector is facing intra-state insecurity across the country as state judges begin to clamp down on social casinos. Elsewhere, the use of crypto payment rails may introduce additional scrutiny from racing regulators, who tend to apply stricter oversight to pooled wagering products.
Despite the strategic logic behind the partnership, these regulatory constraints mean it remains unclear how quickly, or how profitably, Stake can scale tote betting internationally in the near to medium term.
What is TotePool and why is it important for racing?
Instead of betting against a bookmaker at fixed odds, all stakes go into a single pool for each bet type (win, place, exacta, trifecta). Once the race is over, the operator deducts a set commission (otherwise known as the takeout) and the remaining pool is shared among all winning tickets. Final odds are not fixed at bet time and are only confirmed once betting closes.
It is deemed to be an important element of the sport’s make-up, with a portion of the takeout flowing back to racecourses, riders, and breeding and integrity bodies. It’s why regulators and racing authorities often favor tote structures to fixed odds betting structures provided by an operator.
A 2024 report from the World Tote Association (WoTa), titled Tote Betting And Horse Racing: Tax, Responsible Gaming, and the Contribution to Society, highlighted its significance. It said: “Tote betting is fundamental to the economic structure of horse racing around the world. As a sport and leisure activity, horse racing has a major positive economic impact … and involves the employment of over two million people around the world.”
