Ladbrokes open betting outlet in Madrid

Ladbrokes the UK based sports betting company has opened its first dedicated betting shop in Madrid under the Sportium banner, it is a joint venture between Cirsa and Ladbrokes. The plan is for the Sportium brand to open and operate 125 outlets by 2010, this will encompass dedicated betting shops and concessions in Arcades and Bingo Halls.

A spokesman for Ladbrokes said “The opening of our first exclusive shop in Torrejon de Ardoz is the latest step in the successful roll out of Sportium’s sports betting service in Madrid.”

Sportium was created in early 2007 as a 50-50 joint venture between Ladbrokes and Cirsa, the business compines the betting expertise of Ladbrokes with the market knowledge of Cirsa Slot (Spains leading slot machine vendor) with the aim of expanding from Madrid into the rest of Spain.

Sportech launch claim for £40m VAT repayment

The company that took over running and rebranding of the Football Pools, Sportech PLC yesterday launched a claim with the UK Customs Office (HMRC) for overpaid VAT (Value Added Tax) payments in relation to the “Spot The Ball” game which was ran from 1979 through to 1996.

The claim is in the region of £40 million but could be higher, if successful the amount would be paid back to Sportech PLC by HMRC along with interest.  Sportech are claiming that the VAT was paid in error and is therefore repayable.

The process will not be immediate and if successful in their claim it could take Sportech PLC several years to get the money refunded from HMRC.

Bookmakers issue job loss warning to UK government

Representives from the leading UK bookmakers William Hill and Ladbrokes have issued a warning to the Chancellor that any attempt to increase taxes and regulations in the April budget will lead to job losses and shop closures amid fears that the government is considering a raise of gross profits tax from 15pc to 17pc.

An industry insider said “Analysis by London Economics indicates that an increase in GPT from 15pc to 17pc would result in the closure of 845 betting shops and see the loss of 3,190 full time jobs,”. The gaming industry currently employs 40,000 people and operates over 8500 shops.

They have also indicated that an increase in taxes would see UK based operators relocate certain aspects of their business to offshore locations such as the Isle of Man and Gibraltar where taxes are set at around the 1pc mark.

The UK gaming industry currently contributes at least £1 billion in national and local taxes. This is on top of levies paid to the horse and greyhound industries which are thought to be in the region of £130 million per year.

Ladbrokes launch Bet British advertising campaign

The UK based bookmaker Ladbrokes has launched an advertising campaign started from 21st March aimed at encouraging punters to only place bets with UK licensed bookmakers, the campaign will appear in the Racing Post.

A PR spokesman for Ladbrokes said “Very few advertisers in the Racing Post are paying tax or levy in the UK but not many consumers would be aware of this. We are informing betting customers that by betting with Ladbrokes or other UK-based operators they are encouraging employment and tax generation in the UK as well as supporting British racing through the levy. We are also reinforcing the fact that while we are increasingly a global business we remain as British as British beef.”

Ladbrokes is responsible for paying 35% of all Horserace & Betting Levy for 07/08 payments made in the UK during this they paid £100.4m in Gross Profits Tax, £68.5 million in VAT and £49.9 million in Corporation Tax as well as paying £40.4 million in levy to UK horseracing and £45 million in local taxes.

How this campaign will be viewed by other operators is yet to be known but a majority do operate from offshore locations such as the Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Malta where companies based in these locations benefit from payer tax of just 1% or less, such as Sporting Bet, Blue SQ and Bet Fred.

Ladbrokespoker team up with Microgaming Poker Network

The UK based Poker Company Ladbrokespoker.com has teamed up the Microgaming Poker Network to give its customers and increased range of games and to play against more players.

As part of the promotional campaign for the launch of this partnership Ladbrokes Poker are giving away a $1 million dollar payout ever month to its leading 3000 poker players.

The Managing Director of Ladbrokes Poker, Edward Ihre, said: “Players will notice little difference to the service - they will remain Ladbrokes customers and can still use all the Ladbrokes features including 3D Poker. The benefits will be that we can offer a greater range of game types and levels as well as the availability of games in Euros for the first time”.

Ladbrokes will continue with is own tournaments as well as those offered by Microgaming Network this will enable Ladbrokes customers to have a greater variety and bigger prize pools to choose from.

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“

New Corporate Development Director for Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes the UK sports betting company have appointed Chris Palmer as their new Corporate Development Director. Prior to this position he was the Managing Director of the Hesketh Family Office which saw him running the famous Towcester racecourse as well as running trusts and funds for the Hesketh Family.

He will join Ladbrokes from February 2009 where he will sit on the Executive Board reporting directly to Ladbrokes Chief Executive Officer Chris Bell. Speaking on the appointment Chris Bell said: “Chris Palmer brings a breadth of experience of industry and public affairs and we welcome him to the Ladbrokes executive board.”

Ascot to host rescheduled International Hurdle

The postponed International Hurdle which was due to take place at Cheltenham last week will now take place at Ascot on Saturday and will be shown live on BBC One. It is hoped that Champion Hurdle winner Katchit will be able to attend.

Several races have had their times adjusted to allow for the changes with the BGC Long Walk Hurdle being ran 30 minutes later than planned at 1410 and the Ladbroke will now be at 1445. The chief executive of Ascot, Charles Barnett confirmed that the revamped card would offer prize money totalling more than £500,000.

The day will feature seven races, three of which will be top hurdle contests. A spokesman for the sponsors of the event Boylesport said “This could be the greatest day’s hurdling ever seen. We’d like to thank Ascot for working so closely with us, as well as the British Horseracing Authority and the other main sponsors during this difficult time.”

Ladbrokes appoints new chairman

The UK based sports betting company Ladbrokes has appointed Peter Erskine as the successor to Sir Ian Robinson who has been chairman for Ladbrokes for just over seven years; Erskine had previously been the chief executive of the mobile phone network O2.

He will take over as chairman at the company’s next AGM in May 2009, but he will begin working with the company in January 2009. The CEO of Ladbrokes Christopher Bell said “Peter Erskine’s extensive international marketing background and experience of building brand-led businesses will be a big plus for the company. He was responsible for the transformation of O2 plc - the ex BT wireless business - into a leading provider of mobile services in Europe and helped create considerable shareholder value.”

As part of his tenure at 02 he helped with the integration of the company’s £18 billion takeover by Telefonica in 2005, he has since served on the board of the Spanish telecoms operator.  Erskine will help Ladbrokes expand its non UK based retail operations in Spain and Italy as well as continuing its development of online gambling.

Ladrokes announce quarterly profits

The UK based Casino and Sports Book operator Ladbrokes has announced a 12% increase in gross win in the quarter ended 31st October 2008. Group profit has increased to 10%, the management team expect that profitabily in the full year to be inline with 2007.

The CEO of Ladbrokes Chris Bell said “Despite the generally challenging economic conditions, Group profit grew overall. UK retail gross win increased by 5% whilst eGaming has continued to successfully follow its strategy of investing in new customer acquisition and grew net revenue by 22%” he went onto to add “Although a run of poor football and horserace results at the end of the period has affected performance, the Group remains within the market expectation range for 2008.”

Net revenue for the group has increased 22% during the period with good growth across the Sportsbook, Casino and Games.  Poker performance has been low due to highly competitive market and to aid in this Ladbrokes will be joining the Microgaming network in the New Year.

Next Page »