Betfair Sponsors Cricket in UK
Betfair announced this week that it will sponsor test cricket on Channel 4 in the summer. It's the company's first foray in broadcast sponsorship arena. Beginning May 22, the Betfair and Betfair Poker will be the title sponsor for the test cricket series that will include matches pitting England vs. Bangladesh and England vs. Australia. The six-figure deal also includes "The Cricket Show," a weekly half-hour show transmitting from May 22 until September 10.
Real Madrid Steps up Legal Battle
The Real Madrid football club has filed legal papers in France pertaining to its image rights battle with various gambling operators. The club is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the use of Real Madrid's logos and pictures of players and an action for trademark infringement against a handful of online gambling operators. Similar proceeding are already underway in Belgium. Among companies targeted are Ladbrokes, Victor Chandler, Betfair, Sportingbet, William Hill and Mr Bookmaker.
Papal Punting
Pope John Paul II's death has led to a bevy of wagering on who will fill his shoes. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has Italian Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi as the favorite, followed by Nigeria's Francis Arinze. Cardinals will meet in the Vatican next week to elect the new pope.
The pontiff's demise has also inspired Italian lottery players. The numbers 21 and 37, which correspond to the time of his death (21:37 local) have been the most popular numbers picked since his passing. Also popular are the number 2 (the pope died on April 2) and 84 (his age at death).
Betfair's Yahoo Exchange Goes Live
The second stage of a partnership between Betfair and Yahoo UK & Ireland commenced this month with the launch of "Yahoo Betting," a user-friendly, Yahoo-themed betting exchange powered by Betfair. The site was preceded by a white-label site launched by the partnership in February. The new site features Betfair's classic decimal odds system coupled with fractional odds calculated specifically for the Yahoo platform.
March Madness
Citing the availability of endless betting options, along with traditional powerhouse schools reaching the Final Four, online sports books reported high levels of betting action this year for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Operators offered a slough of betting options, such as: "Will two Big Ten Conference Teams--Illinois and Michigan State--meet in the final for the first time since 1976?" "Will Rick Pitino (coach of Louisville) lead his second school to the championship after winning the 1996 title with Kentucky?" and "Will North Carolina coach Roy Williams finally win his first championship after leading Kansas to four Final Fours?" Alex Czajkowski, the marketing director for Sportsbook.com, said his site saw record numbers of bets placed, and turnover from the tournament surpassed turnover for the Super Bowl.
BetCRIS Adds Skill Games
GameAccount and BetCRIS.com in March announced a partnership through which GameAccount, one of Europe's biggest skill gaming companies, will deliver a fully integrated white-label skill games suite to BetCRIS.com. The deal will make recreational games like gin rummy, multiplayer golf, soccer-style solitaire and mahjong available to the offshore sports book's customers, who will be able to play the games using their existing accounts. GameAccount has similar deals with Sportingbet, FHM.com, Tiscali and SportingOdds.com.
William Hill's New Ad Campaign
U.K. bookmaking giant William Hill has nabbed Lean Mean Fighting Machine to create a new digital advertising campaign promoting online betting on Champions League football matches. The ad agency will also develop generic online activity for the high-street bookmaker. The Champions League campaign will be based around newspaper headlines from previous matches and will run across MSN, Yahoo!, AOL and the Aura Sports network until May 25.