Sportingbet
 | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Gambling |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
Key people |
CEO Kenneth Alexander |
| Products |
Sports betting Financial betting Poker (Paradise Poker) Casino (Paradise Casino) Games Backgammon |
| Revenue | £1,577.2 million (2009)[1] |
| £21.9 million (2009)[1] | |
| £12.4 million (2009)[1] | |
| Owner | GVC Holdings plc |
| Website |
www |
Sportingbet is a British e-gaming operator, owned by GVC Holdings plc. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index prior to its acquisition by GVC.
History
The Company was founded by Mark Blandford in 1997.[2] Sportingbet acquired Paradise Poker in October 2004.[3] On 7 September 2006 SportingBet reported that its then chairman, Peter Dicks, was detained in New York City on a Louisiana warrant while traveling in the United States on business unrelated to online gaming.[4] Louisiana is one of the few states that has a specific law prohibiting gambling online. In March 2007, all Louisiana warrants involving the company were cancelled.[5]
In October 2006, Sportingbet announced Paradise Poker would stop taking deposits from US customers, although most would be allowed to continue to play for another month.[6] Additionally, Sportingbet sold all its US-facing sportsbetting and casino businesses, including Sportsbook.com and Sports.com, to a group of private investors for $1, and an assumption of $13.2 million in debts.[7]
In February 2007, Sportingbet announced it was eliminating its Paradise Poker software and migrating players from there to its Sportingbet Poker platform. Prior to this, the two platforms had approximately the same number of players, but the Sportingbet platform had higher liquidity because that platform was part of a larger network. The brand name of Paradise Poker was retained.[8]
In 2008, Netbet (Pty) Ltd, a company in South Africa, licensed the Sportingbet brand for online gambling in South Africa.
In October 2012, Sportingbet announced its board had agreed to preliminary terms for a £530 million takeover bid from UK bookmaker William Hill and Isle of Man-based GVC Holdings.[9] Under the terms, Sportingbet's Australian and Spanish operations were bought by William Hill.[10]
Operations
Sportingbet operates local-focused sportsbooks, virtual games and casino sites, and the online poker cardroom, Paradise Poker. Overall, the company has over 2.5 million registered customers in 200 countries, who place over one million bets (casino, poker, sports and virtual games) per day.
Sportingbet operates several websites. The largest of these are wholly owned and operated by Sportingbet. They also use a system similar to a franchise, in which independent website operators use Sportingbet's centralized software, financial services, trading, and customer service under license. These web sites receive a cut of the profits their customers generate.
Sportingbet's corporate offices are located in Guernsey. They also have offices and call centres in the Republic of Ireland, Costa Rica, and Australia. The PLC is located in Moorgate, London.
Sponsorship
The company sponsored Championship football team Wolverhampton Wanderers from the 2009–10 season until the 2013-14 season.[11] This link-up with a football club first began in January 2009, when Bulgarian football club Slavia Sofia announced a 3-year sponsoring deal. As a result, the logo of the company will appear on the club's shirts for the 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons of the Bulgarian A PFG. Sportingbet will also sponsor Steaua Bucuresti of Romania for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 season. Their logo will also appear on Steaua Bucuresti II, Steaua's reserve team's shirt, which now plays in Liga. Sportingbet have also sponsored division 1 Victorian amateur football team BanyuleFC for the 2010- 2011 seasons.II.[12] SportingBet also sponsor Guernsey FC.
Football
References
- 1 2 3 Annual Report 2009
- ↑ Sportingbet Founder Joins Mfuse Board Mobile marketing
- ↑ Sportingbet acquires Paradise Poker Professional Poker.com, 30 October 2004
- ↑ Adam Goldman (2006-09-26). "Sportingbet PLC Chairman Detained in NYC". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ↑ BBC News Online (2007-03-21). "Sportingbet warrants cancelled". Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ↑ Paradise Poker. "US Gaming Legislation Information". Archived from the original on 2006-10-28.
- ↑ Reuters: Sportingbet exits U.S. by selling out for $1
- ↑ Reuters: Sportingbet writes off gaming software in new deal
- ↑ Sportingbet board agree to £530m takeover bid
- ↑ "GVC completes acquisition of Sportingbet". GVC Holdings plc. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
- ↑ wolves.co.uk (2009-03-31). "Major New Sponsor Announcement".
- ↑ Sportgingbet Press Release
- ↑ http://www.gazzetta.gr/football/article/805101/i-sportingbet-hrysos-horigos-toy-paok
Sportingbet also sponsor BanyuleFC in the Victorian Amateur Football league.