Betfair to Offer In-Running Betting for Olympics
Betfair, the world's leading P2P betting exchange, announced this week that it will offer in-running betting for all events at the Summer Olympic Games in Athens. Customers will be able to bet mid-race and mid-event. Hugh Taggart, Betfair's International PR manager, said the offering is another example of how the company's commitment to delivering a cutting-edge product. "While other bookmakers and sports books will suspend their markets, Betfair will allow its punters to bet right up to the last jump, ultimate throw and final stride," Taggart said. The exchange will offer markets on all 28 Olympic events as well as an extensive range of medal and country specials.
Betmaker.com Unveils Redesign
Online sports book Betmaker.com unveiled a new site design this week with a focus on the entertainment value and professionalism in customer service. Marketing Director Sean Jameson said the timing of the redesign was due in part to the impending start of the National Football League and college football season in the United States, one of the busiest times of the year for bookmakers who target U.S. punters.
World Gaming, Sportingbet Restructure
World Gaming plc has announced the restructuring of its relationship with Sportingbet plc. The new agreement calls for World Gaming to transfer a 50 percent interest in its software to Sportingbet in exchange for $10 million in cash. The money will be paid to World Gaming in staged payments and will give Sportingbet more control over software development. Sportingbet will inject $4.5 million into software development over four years in return for a perpetual royalty-free license for use within the Sportingbet group. Daniel Moran, chief executive of World Gaming, said the deal will enable his company to continue operating and maintain a good relationship with Sportingbet. "We are pleased that we have now successfully resolved this issue with Sportingbet allowing for continued growth in the World Gaming software and infrastructure," Moran said. "The restructured relationship not only stabilizes World Gaming's future but will allow us to move forward and expand into new markets as well as open new investment opportunities that previously were not possible."
A New Betting Market
The newest online betting market, AllSportsMarket.com, went live this week, enabling punters to buy and sell options in companies and professional athletes in the same manner that investors buy and sell stocks and bonds. The site started with its opening prices on various NFL teams to win the Super Bowl, with the Patriots, Eagles and Rams among the favorites. The company also launched All-Sports-News.com, a free service providing streaming up-to-the-minute sports news and information.
Not a Lot of Bass Action at BoDog
BoDog reports that only six of its customers placed wagers on which angler would win the 2004 Bassmaster Classic (the Super Bowl of bass fishing tournaments) on Lake Wiley in South Carolina. The six bass bettors yielded a combined turnover of $100. One of them put $25 on long-shot Japanese pro Takahiro Omori, who became the first non-American to win the event. The final two days of weigh-ins were televised lived in ESPN and drew solid ratings for the network.
BHB Support for P2P
The new chair of the British Horseracing Board told the Daily Telegraph last month that he supports the existence of betting exchanges in England. Martin Broughton said he is OK with exchanges being in operation as long as they make fair contributions to the racing industry. "To me it is an electronic bookmaker and to pretend it should not exist is fine in a country where bookmakers don't exist and there is a pool monopoly," Broughton said. "But if you are in a country where you have bookmakers running alongside the Tote, to me it is a smart new modern form of bookmaking. I don't think it is a question of banning it, but of regulating and managing it and making sure it pays a fair share to racing."
Bookies Welcome Underdog Victories in British Open
As the world's top golfers onverge in Wisconsin for the PGA Championship, bookmakers are still relishing big wins from last month's British Open. Thanks to an underdog winning the event for the second year in a row, very few punters came out on the winning side of bets. Little-known American Todd Hamilton won the Open at Royal Troon, only a year after American Justin Rose won his first golf tournament ever at The Open. Hamilton, 37, was a 200/1 outsider at the start of the tournament. Ladbrokes and William Hill took a total of six combined bets on him. Ladbrokes said its highest bet on Hamilton was £10, coincidentally from a customer named Hamilton, while William Hill's only bet for the American to win was £4. A spokesman for William Hill said they were delighted to pay out the £800 considering that a victory by South African Ernie Els at 6/1 would have resulted in their paying a "seven figure sum" to a single customer.