What is SB Score?
At SportsBoom, we use SB Score to evaluate betting sites, casino operators, and betting apps using a standard evaluation method based on factual data.
As opposed to evaluating betting/casino offers based solely on marketing and welcome bonuses, SB Score takes into account many other criteria that determine quality, value for money, usability, and reliability.
Depending on the type of page, the operator is evaluated using specific criteria. In the case of sportsbook operators, criteria can include odds margin, sports offered, live betting, bonuses, app experience, payouts, and responsible gambling.
If we are evaluating casino sites, we take into account the number of games, fairness of bonuses, payment speed, live casino performance, and mobile experience.
Each criterion contributes a specific weighting to the final rating, out of 100 possible points. Criteria with a higher weight have more impact on the total score.
The SB Scores are calculated by our team members based on actual testing of products and comparison of different operators.
SB Score Criteria Examples
The exact scoring criteria can vary depending on the type of betting or casino page. Below are two examples of how SportsBoom may weight key factors when reviewing different operator categories.
Example 1: Online Betting Sites
Category | Weight (%) | Max Points |
Sports coverage & market depth | 20 | 20 |
Odds quality & pricing | 15 | 15 |
Live betting & in-play performance | 15 | 15 |
Betting tools, cash out & product features | 12 | 12 |
Bonuses, free bets & ongoing promotions | 10 | 10 |
App, betslip & user experience | 8 | 8 |
Payout speed, KYC & payment options | 8 | 8 |
Trust, licensing & responsible gambling | 8 | 8 |
Customer support & dispute handling | 4 | 4 |
Total | 100 | 100 |
Example 2: Online Casino Sites
Category | Weight (%) | Max Points |
Casino games & software providers | 20 | 20 |
Bonus Fairness & Real Value | 20 | 20 |
Live casino experience | 15 | 15 |
Withdrawal speed & payment methods | 15 | 15 |
Mobile casino experience | 8 | 8 |
Software, UX & site navigation | 7 | 7 |
Customer support quality | 5 | 5 |
VIP programme & loyalty rewards | 5 | 5 |
Trust, Licensing & Safer Gambling | 5 | 5 |
Total | 100 | 100 |
The above examples show how SB Score is designed to reflect the most important factors for each page type. A sportsbook review gives more weight to betting coverage, odds, and in-play performance, while a casino review places more emphasis on games, bonus value, withdrawals, and live casino experience.
What is the SB Market Index?
While SB Score remains SportsBoom’s key rating metric, there may be cases where we incorporate external ratings by also using the SB Market Index (SBMI) to provide additional market context.
The SB Market Index is a unique, custom-built rating system developed by SportsBoom to provide a transparent, reliable, and industry-contextualised score for betting operators.
While SB Score is based on SportsBoom’s own review methodology, the SB Market Index combines this internal assessment with wider industry ratings.
The SB Market Index is calculated by combining:
Industry Insight: SportsBoom researches and aggregates review scores from multiple respected research and review sites. These external scores are standardised to a common scale to create the Industry Insight. This step ensures that the influence of any one source is balanced and that outliers are minimised.
Combining with SB Score: The Industry Insight is then combined with SportsBoom’s own SB Score, which is derived from SportsBoom’s market-leading review methodology. The SB Score contributes 20% to the total score, while the Industry Insight makes up the remaining 80%. This weighting ensures that the index benefits from SportsBoom’s expertise while remaining anchored in the wider industry perspective.
Final Normalisation: The combined score is standardised again, resulting in a final SB Market Index value out of 100. This ensures that all scores are directly comparable, clear, and easy to interpret, regardless of the number or origin of the contributing reviews.