William Hill to sponsor the Winter Festival
April 13, 2009 by mbates
UK based bookmaker William Hill has revealed that they are to be the new sponsors of the Winter Festival at Kempton Park racecourse with a four year deal which will include sponsorship of the of King George VI Chase.
The event will now be know as the William Hill Winter Festival and William Hill will feature on all the naming rights to the 2 day event as well as sponsorship of the most famous events in the National Hunt calendar, including the Christmas Hurdle, Desert Orchid Chase, and Feltham Chase. The deal is thought to be in region of £5 million and will last until 2012.
Kempton Park’s Managing Director Amy Starkey, said: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement on a four-year sponsorship for Kempton Park’s flagship jumps meeting of the year. The William Hill Winter Festival will further strengthen the racecourse, and we will now work with Hills to enhance what is a superb advertisement for our sport.”
Ladbrokes launch Bet British advertising campaign
March 23, 2009 by mbates
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.
William Hill payout early on Tiger Woods
February 23, 2009 by mbates
William Hill the UK based bookmaker has decided to pay out early on the World Matchplay golf tournament next week by declaring Tiger Woods the winner. They will pay out on anyone who placed Tiger Woods to win as a single bet on the tournament before Friday 20th February. They will not however be pay out on him winning the Grand Slam.
A spokesman for William Hill said “Paying out on Tiger will cost us a hefty five figure sum, but it is a just reward for his hordes of loyal supporters - and from our point of view, although he costs us huge amounts of money every time he wins a tournament, he also boosts the level of betting interest enormously, so we benefit from that, too”
William Hill: Tiger Woods Specials :
- 4/1 To Win The World Matchplay
- 1/4 To Win First Round Match (11/4 To Lose)
UK bookmakers getting ready for reality TV betting onslaught
November 13, 2008 by mbates
William Hill the UK based bookmaker is getting ready for one of the busiest fortnights of reality television betting and they have estimated that there will be over £10 million worth of bets will be staked on reality TV shows such as X Factor, I’m A Celebrity and Come Dancing in the coming weeks.
When last years I’m a Celebrity Betting was won by the outsider Christopher Biggins it cost the bookmakers millions of pounds as many had expected Janince Dickinson to win the event. Already for this years I’m a Celeb event the former tennis player Martina Navratilova has been the best backed contestant with William Hill who have cut her odds from 10/1 to 7/1, with Kilroy Silk attracting just one bet in the first twelve hours of betting.
A spokesman for William Hill said “Biggins cost us big last year and we are out to get our revenge this year as there is no obvious stand out yet.“
