With gambling often oscillating between thrill and risk, one Irish online sports betting company is daring to change the rules. We The Bookie, founded by Malcolm Wilkinson, is introducing a sports betting model that aims to challenge problem gambling by giving half of its revenue back to players.
Ireland’s gambling industry is booming, with revenue projected to reach US$2.69 billion in 2025, and the sports betting market projected to reach US$602 million by 2030. Yet this growth potentially throws the darker side of betting into sharp relief. The ESRI reports that one-in-30 adults in Ireland now struggle with problem gambling, making responsible gambling more urgent than ever. Against this backdrop, We The Bookie is bringing an approach that can be radical and refreshingly human, aligning profitability with player well-being.
The company sports what it calls a WeShare model, a monthly revenue-sharing system that is designed to redistribute 50% of gross betting revenue to customers in direct proportion to their losses. In practice, that means punters who lose during a given month may receive a share of the bookmaker’s profits back. Depending on how the month unfolds, that return can range anywhere from 0%, if the bookmaker itself loses money, up to 50% if the players finish ahead.
Wilkinson argues that on paper, this sports betting model could appear to promote heavier betting, but he insists the opposite is true. “It could encourage customers to scale back when they’re having a bad month and wait for the end-of-the-month to rebate rather than chasing losses,” he explains. “The structure itself promotes self-regulation. It’s aimed to reward patience rather than impulsivity.”
To further establish their efforts toward customer-centricity, We The Bookie avoids VIP schemes and similar incentives that may be designed to increase player spending and excessive gambling. Its focus, Wilkinson notes, isn’t on pushing players to spend more, but on helping them enjoy the experience responsibly. “Gambling is exciting, that’s the unequivocal truth, but it can also be harmful,” he says. “The WeShare model strives to ensure that fairness and well-being are built into our very foundation, not added as an afterthought.”
“Sharing half the revenue with punters can obviously create financial challenges,” Wilkinson admits, “but the gains in retention, trust, and community value far outweigh them.”
The startup’s transparency also allows customers to see how the bookmaker itself is performing in real time. “From their point of view, they can track how we’re doing as an operator and see what their rebate might look like,” Wilkinson explains. “Sometimes, they may even find themselves rooting for the house to win, because that could increase their WeShare rebate.”
Following the execution of its pilot project across Ireland in 2024, We The Bookie is now preparing to take the WeShare model global in 2026. With the social impact of gambling becoming clear, Wilkinson’s global vision offers a framework that blends profitability with principle, fairness, and transparency, betting on the belief that doing right by the punter is good business.
He adds, “At the end of the day, I sleep well knowing we’re creating a net positive in our community, even if we happen to work in a vice industry.”
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