William Hill to cease sponsorship at Ascot
March 16, 2009 by mbates
Following the news from December 2008 that the BBC will only be covering 14 days worth of live racing for each of the next the years it appears the first high profile casualty has appeared. The UK based operator William Hill who have sponsored key events at Ascot racecourse in previous years have confirmed they will not be continuing their sponsorship of jump racing at Ascot.
In 2008 the BBC which is funded by license payers covered five days of jumping from Ascot but these will now be absent from future television schedules, the move has been described by industry insiders as the “the first nail in racing’s coffin.”
William Hill suspend betting on Benitez
February 25, 2009 by mbates
One of the UK’s largest bookmakers, William Hill have today reported that they have suspended betting on the next Premiership manager to go after an unprecedented number of bets being place on Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.
On Tuesday evening Rafa Benitez was showing at odds of 20/1 and was classed as an outside to be named as the next manager booted out of the Premiership but by Wednesday morning he was down to evens and all betting was suspended at 9:30 this morning.
A spokesman for William Hill said “We are slightly jumpy after being turned over by the recent ‘Weymouth coup’ but the level of interest on Rafa getting the sack is unprecedented with over 300 calls logged today alone. We would be very surprised if Rafa is still the Liverpool boss by midnight on Sunday.”
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)
William Hill sponsor key events at Kempton Park
December 22, 2008 by mbates
The UK bookmakers William Hill have today announced a new sponsorship deal at Kempton Park Racecourse. The new deal will see William Hill sponsor the williamhill.com Lanzarote Hurdle in January and the Williamhill.com Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle on Saturday 21st of February, which will form part of the gala Racing Post Chase day card
Hills will also sponsor the Williamhill.com Roseberry Stakes and williamhill.com Masaka Stakes on the 28th March which will team up with the £150,000 William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster the same day ensuring that Hills feature prominently during the flat season.
The managing director of Kempton Park Racecourse Amy Starkey said: “I am thrilled with this enhanced association for the racecourse with William Hill. We are looking forward to an excellent year in 2009, and this gets us off to a flying start.”
William Hill Sports Book of the Year Winner
November 25, 2008 by mbates
Marcus Trescothick has been awarded the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, for his autobiography, ‘Coming Back To Me’, winning the £20,000 prize from William Hill (along with his co writer, Peter Hayter) along with a £2000 William Hill bet and a hand-bound copy of the book by master binder David Sellars.
The former England batsman was announced as the winner at Waterstones bookstore in Piccadilly by panel judge John Inverdale, the award was present by the Olympic Gold medal winning athlete, Michael Johnson.
The founder of the event Graham Sharpe and also William Hill spokesman said “This is only the second autobiography to win the Award. The judges felt it fearlessly tackled one of the great taboos of elite sport.‘ The other five finalists for award all collected £2000 cash, a £1000 William Hill bet and a leather-bound copy of their books.
William Hill prepare for largest ever horse racing jackpot
November 21, 2008 by mbates
This Saturday there will be the largest jackpot in horse racing betting history when a possible £5 million plus is available in the Tote Scoop6 bet. To be in with a chance of winning you need find a winner in all six of the televised races on Saturday.
It costs just £2 to select one horse in each race and punters are also allowed to pick more than one horse in each race to further increase their chances of winning. There are only 19 tickets that made it through to the final leg at last weeks Cheltenham and none had selected the winner which enabled to he jackpot pool to be rolled over for its consecutive 11th week.
UK based bookmakers William Hill have seen a large increase of customers in their shops seeking advices on how to place their Scoop6 bet. Customers who have placed bets through William Hill may have a better chance of winning as they have made four millionaires in the last year!
Kate Miller from William Hill said; “The Tote Betting Scoop 6 is the hottest bet in racing! Punters know they have a much greater chance of winning the Scoop6 than the National Lottery and this is the biggest Jackpot in Racing history!”
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.“
William Hill announces growth amid UK recession fears
October 20, 2008 by mbates
William Hill the United Kingdoms second biggest bookmaker has reported an increase of 9% in gross win in the 15 weeks ending October 14th in a statement today. This combined with earlier news about the recent Playtech announcement has seen an increase in the share price of William Hill of 21%.
The strongest growth Hills has seen is in online bingo and games while poker has been seen to suffer to due weak player take up which has been attributed to William Hill being built mainly on sports betting and having only a limited online gaming experience.
Shares in William Hill have hit just over 200.00 today compared to a year low on Friday of 164.25 following the global slump of the past two weeks.
William Hill disappointed with increase in Ireland’s betting tax
October 14, 2008 by mbates
Ireland’ss minister for Finance Brian Lenihan announced today that the Government will double the current 1 per cent tax on bookmakers turnover to 2 per cent, this will net the exchequer an extra €40 million. The move was condemned by the Irish Bookmakers’ Association who said it will drive small bookmakers out of business.
William Hill Director Of Racing & Public Relations David Hill commented; “We are surprised and disappointed that the Irish Government is increasing betting tax at a time when the man in the street continues to feel less change in his pocket day after day. As a turnover tax, rather than a Gross Profits Tax, which is now the model adopted in the UK and other territories, it will make running large estates of betting shops and particularly an internet or telephone business in Ireland very unattractive. William Hill customers can continue to bet ‘tax free’ because we will absorb the cost on their behalf for the time being. Our initial thoughts are though, that some operators will have to consider passing on the cost to their customers through reduced odds and trading concessions. It may make the ownership of some betting shops in Ireland unsustainable and could lead to redundancies.”
William Hill and other leading bookmakers will not pass on the tax increase to their customers.
William Hill closes book on X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing
October 9, 2008 by mbates
William Hill have stopped taking bets on which show out of the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing will come top in the TV ratings this weekend following a large amount of bets being placed on the X Factor. A spokesperson for William Hill said “Strictly is on at the same time as England’s World Cup qualifier and is bound to suffer as a result. We also feel that to gain brownie points, long suffering football widows will be allowed to watch the X Factor in peace after the football finishes,”
William Hill are making the group Girlband the favourite to be the first band to be voted off the X Factor, live betting will be available throughout the show.
X Factor First Elimination Odds:
- 9/4 Girlband
- 7/2 Scott Bruton
- 5/1 Bad Lashes
- 6/1 Danny Evans
- 8/1 Ruth Lorenzo
- 12/1 JLS
- 16/1 Rachel Hylton, Eoghan Quigg, Diana Vickers
- 33/1 Austin Drage
- 40/1 Laura White, Alexandra Burke
