Betfair acquire The TV Games Network

The UK based internet betting exchange Betfair and digital entertainment technology company Macrovision Solutions Corporation has today announced that Betfair has completed the purchased of the TV Games Network (TVG) from Macrovision for $50 million.   This move will see Betfair put a massive foothold into the American gaming market.

The TV Games Network (TVG) system is used at 70 horse racing tracks throughout the US, including the major courses at Kentucky and New York. The service allows user to  wage from home online, by phone with a web-enabled mobile phone, and a set-top remote control.

The President of US arm of Betfair Gerard Cunningham said: “We are tremendously excited to be the new owners of TVG and look forward to building upon the worldwide experience of Betfair to help grow the business. We believe TVG to be the premium product in the sector, with exceptional staff and loyal customers, and we look forward to working with the horseracing industry to help promote this great sport.”

Although any betting in the USA is strictly regulated it has been seen as off limits area for British companies due to The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which has caused severe problems for many operators, this could see Betfair have a major head start when and if the regulations are eased.

David Yu the CEO of the Betfair Group Ltd said “We have waited to enter the US market until we had a high quality, and above all, legal product offering”

Qatar in bid for 2018 World Cup

The Gulf state of Qatar on Monday announced its intention to be one of the countries bidding to be the host nation for the FIFA World Cup in 2018, and if it fails in that it will fallback to the 2022 World Cup.

The General Secretary of the Qatar Football Federation; Saud Al Mohannadi said “I can confirm that the Qatar football federation has today sent a letter to FIFA in which it officially declared its candidacy for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. We have the stadiums and we have experience hosting top sports events. We don’t want to rush into anything, we need to find out what the full requirements are, but we are interested.”

FIFA the governing body of world football has started to accept bids on the 2018 and 2002 World Cups earlier this month and interested Football Associations have to make their bids by February 2nd 2009. The decision of who will be the hosts of both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be announced in December 2010.

FIFA started reception of bids for the right to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups earlier this month. All the interested national federations will have to make their bids before February 2, 2009.

If Qatar win the rights to host the prestigious event there is speculation as to how advertising rights particular in the gambling and alcohol arenas will be controlled by the strict gambling and drinking laws in Qatar.

Sportstech payout over £1million on new Football Pools

The owners of the recently re-launched online UK football pools, Sporttech has revealed that its two major online games Premier 10 and Footy 15 have since the start of the UK football season have made large payouts totalling £1.25m. This is on top of non cash prizes that have been won including 200 tickets to the English National Ballet where they performed the greatest moments in football.

The CEO of Sportech Ian Penrose said “These games were designed to allow football fans to test their knowledge, have fun and also make some money in the process! This season we’ve already given out over £1.25million on our new games, which really is an incredible amount to have paid out.”

Betfred to increase number of UK betting shops

The UK based sports bookmaker Betfred owned by the Done brothers has published its plans for the expansion for their chain of betting shops that would result in the company opening its 800th store during the spring of 2009 creating 350 jobs in the process and this could grow to 1,000 stores in the following three years.

The company currently operates 775 betting shops from its headquarters in Warrington, it has currently been expanding at the rate of 80 shops per year, the Betfred currently employs 4000 staff with 350 based at the Warrington headquarters.

Finance director of Betfred; Barry Nightingale expected turnover to increase by 5% over the next 12 months taking operating turnover to £1.6 billion.

Stanleybet allowed to reopen Greek outlets

The UK sports betting company Stanleybet has been allowed by an Athens court to reopen its outlet in the City. In late 2008 Stanleybet had opened two outlets one in Athens the second in Thessaloniki but they were promptly shut down as they violated Greek law what allows only the OPAP monopoly on sports betting shops which it has with the Greek government until 2020.

The monopoly was challenged by Stanleybet as it violated European Union law and was appealing to the European Commission. The court issued a temporary ruling suspending a previous decision on the closure of Stanleybet’s store in Athens,” Stanleybet said in a press release. A final ruling is expected in a couple of months.

The Chief Executive of OPAP; Christos Hadjiemmanuil indicated that a ruling by the high court in Greece would confirm the firms monopoly and could overrule the decision by the administrative court.

Betfred sell off online casino operations

The UK based sports betting company Betfred has disposed of its online casino operations following several years of underperforming due to its belated entry into the online gaming market.  The sale took place in 2008 but has only just been revealed by the recently filed companies accounts of Betfreds holding company Lightcatch Ltd.

The company’s casino gaming division will still however remain on the Betfred.com website as the group has kept its online sports betting division.  The sale of Betfred NV has thought to have netted the owners of Betfred known as the Done Brothers in excess of £27 million. Although the division was profitable for Betfred it only made an operating profit of £3.3 million based on a turnover of £9.2 million in 2007.

Betfred’s finance director, Barry Nightingale said: “We have sold the online business, but we’re bound by the terms of the deal not to reveal any more details. It made commercial sense, but with our new partners the Betfred brand will continue to go from strength to strength in the online arena.”

Horse Racing Ireland release betting figures

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power saw its share value drop sharply yesterday in reaction to figures release by Horse Racing Ireland that showed that there was a decline in the horseracing industry has decreased for the first time in fifteen years.

Paddy Power’s shares fell from 7.8pc to €11.90 and have shrunk further €11.28 by lunchtime today, increasing its decline this year to just over 11 percent.

Horse Racing Ireland said that on course betting had fell by over 18 percent in 2008 due to adverse weather and the current economic decline.  An example of the decrease in punters at racecourses was seen at the recent Christmas meeting at Leopardstown which saw crowds reduced from 59,000 to 57,000 over the four day event but saw a decrease at the Tote by €400,000 to €1.9m.

Google relaxes its self imposed Adwords gambling ban

Following Google’s decision three months ago to allow European based online gambling companies to use the Adwords facility Google has reversed its self imposed ban and has now announced that it is will allow affiliate websites to advertise and bid for Google Adwords.

Affiliate companies wishing to advertise will have to adhere to all responsible gaming policies. This will apply to affiliates that operate without a betting license that generate and push traffic to gambling and related sites.

The move may see Google’s Adwords revenue increase dramatically as affiliates have been unable to use the Adwords facility and therefore rely solely on natural SEO to generate income, some analysts have predicted it could be as high as £300 million.

Ladbrokes comes underfire from TV watchdog

The Advertising Standards Authority has reported that a recent series of adverts by UK sports betting company Ladbrokes for their Online Casino ladbrokescasino.com which featured characters leaping to their death broke ASA rules.  The adverts according to the ASA “portrayed gambling in a context of toughness, and linked it to excessive risk taking and reckless“.

The adverts all show extreme situations, one advert showed an actor sky diving from a plane and attempting to use a crisp packet as his parachute, whilst another showed a diver attaching raw meat to his diving suit before entering shark infested water whilst dressed as a seal.

Ladbrokes is looking to get the decision overturned and said the ASA of “ruling against using humour in gambling advertisements“.  Ladbrokes have claimed that their was just one complaint from a member of the public regarding the adverts.

The Managing Director of Ladbrokes Remote Betting and Gaming John O’Reilly said; “Ladbrokes fully supports the code of practice relating to gambling advertising but this ruling is an example of political correctness going too far. We believe the ads are compliant as they are humorous and show people in fantastical situations to which no one would aspire. Consumers know that you cannot jump from a plane using a 30g pack of crisps as a parachute!”

Although the ASA found the adverts were “humorous“, “unrealistic“, and were in effect “cautionary tales“, the allegation was upheld that they breached the CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code by linking gambling to toughness, risk taking and reckless behaviour.

The series adverts were among the finalists at the Cannes International Advertising Awards and was a London International Awards Silver Winner.  The three adverts all used a documentary style to show fantastical situations where the characters undertake strange acts to “quench their thrill buds“

William Hill sponsor ITV1 daytime show

The UK Company William Hill has announced a sponsorship deal for its online Bingo with the ITV1 daytime show “The Real Deal”. The deal will initially start from the Monday 5th January for four months in what William Hill hopes will raise brand awareness of its Bingo division.

Lili Huang speaking on behalf of William Hill said “For an initial foray in to actual programme sponsorship, we were very pleased with the response from the Spin Star association. We’re delighted to have this opportunity of sponsoring the Real Deal, because the programme has the potential for a far bigger audience with its current scheduling.”

The Real Deal is hosted by David Dickinson who made his name on the BBC1 show Bargain Hunt. The programme will air on ITV1 Monday to Friday from 2pm – 3pm and features members of the public taking items for auction assisted by Dickinson.