[citation needed] Fred Done was the first bookmaker to pay out early (i.e., before the result was guaranteed), when in March 1998 it paid out to gamblers who had bet that Manchester United F.C.

[10] During the 2004–05 FA Premier League season, Done lost £1m to fellow bookmaker Victor Chandler after staking that amount that Manchester United would finish higher than Chelsea.

Chelsea finished 18 points clear of third placed Manchester United and won their first Premiership title under José Mourinho.

[12] It was widely reported in April 2010 that Fred Done formed part of the "Red Knights" consortium that were looking to buy English Premier League club Manchester United from the Glazer Family.

[18] In November 2018, punter David Smith took Betfred to court after he claimed to have won a jackpot of £212,000, having mistakenly written "Bailarico", a losing horse, on the betting slip, rather than "Bialco", a winner.

[27] In June 2017, Betfred was confirmed as the new official shirt sponsors of Championship side Bolton Wanderers, in an agreement which will initially last for two years.

Betfredsports.com, Betfred's digital and retail presence in the USA, has official partnerships with NFL teams, the Denver Broncos[32] and Cincinnati Bengals,[33] whilst they are partners of the Colorado Rockies[34] of the MLB and Loudoun United FC of the USL Championship, which includes a jersey sponsorship.

[35] On 3 June 2011, Betfred won the auction to purchase The Tote, the government-owned betting operation, in a deal worth £265m.

[36] The counter bid was lodged by the SIP (Sports Investment Partners) consortium headed by former city banker and British Airways chairman Sir Martin Broughton.

[38] In September 2016, according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport "In terms of the Tote Racing Development Board, I can confirm that as a stand alone concept it has not been set up to date.

[39] In June 2016 the Gambling Commission required Betfred to pay more than £800,000 in compensation and in contribution towards socially responsible causes as part of a regulatory settlement.

The Gambling Commission's investigation followed a court case that resulted in one customer of Betfred being jailed for three years and four months, after admitting to stealing from his employer.

An investigation revealed the operator had failed to carry out adequate "source of funds" checks on a customer who deposited £210,000, and lost £140,000, of stolen money over one twelve-day period in November 2017.

The Commission said that one customer who was able to deposit and lose such significant amounts in such a short period of time clearly indicated failings in the effectiveness of Petfre's anti money laundering policies and procedures.

[44] In April 2021, Betfred lost a High Court case against Andrew Green from Lincolnshire who had won £1.7 million in a Jackpot Game.

[45] The company are the brand owners of Thesportsman.com (The Sportsman Communications Limited), an online sports news and broadcaster established in 2017.