Viennese Betfair -- U.K. based betting exchange Betfair has received a license to operate in Austria. The license permits the company to operate only in the state of Vienna, but Betfair plans to seek licenses in Austria's other eight states as well. The company also hopes to attain license in South Africa and is considering applying for licenses in Germany and several other European countries.
Play-by-Play -- Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. (ISWI) has released more figures indicating the rising popularity of its SportXction play-by-play wagering platform. In the months from July to September 2004, the company logged 3,397 unique player sessions, 893 new players, $259,000 in handle and $7,000 in wagering revenue. For the last quarter of 2004 (October to December), those numbers soared to 11,188 players sessions, 3,098 new players, $758,00 in handle and $23,000 in wagering revenue. The latest figures for the first quarter of 2005 (January to March) show an even larger increase all across the board, with player sessions rising to 35,184, new players rising to 6,772, handles rising to $2.3 million and wagering revenue rising to $46,000. The surge in SportXction activity is due to the rollout of its multi-language, multi-currency product in several countries. Sportingbet has launched the product on its Croatian, Slovenian, Spanish, Turkish, Bulgarian and Greek betting sites in recent months. ISWI says it intends to target players in these countries further by increasing the number of local and international (non-British) sporting events offered.
Voice Verification -- 192.com Business Services has developed a product called 192 SafeBet that verifies online gamblers identities by using a voice-based solution. The product records gamblers' unique audio voice-prints and then instigates an automatic call-back facility whenever a user logs on to a wagering site. The customer is then asked to provide verbal confirmation of his age and identity. The solution can also check users' information against a number of information sources, including the Electoral Roll, Companies House and the BT Contact Directory Enquiries Database.
Welcome Aboard -- Irish betting company Paddy Power has announced that Patrick Kennedy will take overr the role of CEO of the company when John O'Reilly retires at the end of the year. Kennedy is currently a non-executive director of Paddy Power and chief financial officer of Greencore Group Plc. Commenting on his appointment as CEO of the Paddy Power, Kennedy stated, "As a long time unsuccessful punter, it will now be a pleasure to reverse roles!"
bet365casino -- British betting company bet365.com has licensed software from I-gaming software provider Playtech to launch bet365casino.com. The casino incorporates a customized package designed specifically for sports book operators and fans and includes virtual horse racing game Derby Day, 12 new fixed-odds games, instant-access flash games and the ability to integrate live scores and odds data tickers.
William Hill TV -- William Hill has signed a deal with the Brazilian football league that will allow it to begin showing three hours of Brazilian football on William Hill TV (channel 425 on Sky Digital) every Sunday. Another recent deal signed by the company will allow it to begin airing live Australian horse racing from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. t William Hill will be showing more than 110 hours of racing every week--more than both At The Races at 91 hours a week and Racing UK at 69 hours a week.