Yahoo UK and Betfair have teamed up to form a branded betting exchange slated to launch on Yahoo UK by March. The new site "Yahoo Betting," comes in spite of efforts by Yahoo UK's parent company to distance itself from online gambling.
Yahoo announced in April 2004 that it was pulling all ads for online gambling sites on its U.S. site--a move that didn't affect global sites like Yahoo UK.
The new exchange will be built and managed by Betfair, customized for Yahoo users and promoted throughout the various channels of the Yahoo UK portal site. It will have multiple access points, among them the sports and finance sections.
Betfair Chief Executive Stephen Hill told ZDNet UK that the partnership will open up the concept of exchange betting to a whole new customer base for Betfair.
"By creating a customized Betfair exchange for the Yahoo platform," Hill said, "we are offering the revolutionary dynamics of an exchange to a wider audience in a more traditional and customer-friendly way."
Betfair doesn't accept wagers from U.S. residents, so keeping the Yahoo betting site free of "unwanted" players could be a seamless integration. Neither company commented on usage policies for the new exchange.
The deal will also include Yahoo Ireland, which is operated under the Yahoo UK banner.
Representatives from neither Betfair nor Yahoo UK were immediately available to comment on the partnership. A representative from Yahoo's International headquarters in California had no comment on the news.