>Blue Chip Deal -- U.K. football club Manchester United, which earlier this week rejected online poker provider Mansion.com's £70 million shirt sponsorship offer, announced today that U.S. finance company American International Group (AIG) will be its sponsor for the next four years for £56.5 million. Though Mansion's offer was the largest ever in the European Football Association, United's new deal still trumps Chelsea's five-year £50 million Samsung sponsorship deal. According to The Daily Telegraph, United was prepared to go through with the deal with Mansion, but the board was uncomfortable being linked to a gambling company. "We passed up the opportunity to do the world's biggest shirt deal to do the right shirt deal, one that is right for Manchester United and one that underlines our position as the world's leading club," said United chief executive David Gill. "AIG's global operations complement our great fan base and we are excited about the global prospects this relationship brings. This is a blue chip deal for a blue chip club."
Shot Down in Scotland -- In response to suggestions that betting exchange Betfair could play a role in the future starting price system, all three Scottish bookmakers' organizations have shunned exchanges on the racecourse market at five tracks in Scotland. The organizations unanimously agreed to trade without using betting exchanges at all five tracks, after successful experiments at two of the tracks in January like the one at Catterick, in which bookmakers via traditional means (without using betting exchanges).
Watch What You Say -- The identity of a punter who made an untrue allegation about the financial stability of At The Races (ATR) on the Betfair discussion forum has been unveiled after legal action by the broadcaster. ATR has since met with the individual, who admitted there was no truth in his comments, and accepted his apology without taking further action.
Live from South Africa -- After a customer survey purportedly highlighted demand for it, betting exchange iBetX has launched live South African horseracing on its site. The company says it is offering a unique service with commission rates ranging between 3 percent and 1 percent and hopes this will attract more customers to its site.
Instant Play -- British bookmaker Victor Chandler has teamed up with interactive gaming software provider Electracade Ltd. and gaming technology company Orbis Technology to launch an instant-play version of classic roulette. Electracade supplied the program, and Orbis supplied its OpenBet games application.
Good Looking Poker -- A new online poker site, PKR.com, which boasts graphics as sophisticated as those found in games on PlayStation2 or Xbox, is offering advanced registration for its is June 2006 launch. The company has appointed as its CEO Malcolm Graham, former director and managing director of The Ritz Club London Online.