American Football Offers Opportunities
Costa Rica-based sports book BETonSPORTS has announced the schedule for its luxury buses hitting college and pro football games across the United States throughout the 2005-06 season. The buses are accompanied by the BETonSPORTS Girls handing out promotional items. The tour began Saturday in Durham, N.C. and will end Feb. 3 at the Super Bowl in Detroit.
Hall of Fame Quarterback Jim Kelly has signed on to serve as spokesperson for Online sports book SportsInteraction.com. Kelly will appear in Sports Interaction's marketing materials, will contribute articles for the Web site and will appear at VIP events for Sports Interaction clients.
MJ Admits Vice
While plugging his new book titled "Driven from Within," Michael Jordan talked about his gambling habit in an interview Sunday on CBS's 60 Minutes. Jordan said he's occasionally been "stupid" in his gambling, but that he never jeopardized his livelihood or his family. The former basketball star admitted, however, that there were times he found himself unable to walk away from certain situations and that he's embarrassed and regrets them.
Place Your Bets - It's Chess Season
Curacao-based PinnacleSports.com claims it has become the first is taking action on all team matches and every individual game in the U.S. Chess League, a new eight-team league comprised of talented players from various U.S. cities. PinnacleSports.com will also co-sponsor the Canadian Chess Team at the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy from May 20 to June 4, 2006.
Bodog's Got Iverson's Back
Costa Rica-based Bodog.com says it has offered to cover any fines basketball player Allen Iverson receives for violating the NBA's new dress code this season. Even if Iverson pays his own fine, the company will match any fines levied against Iverson with donations to his Crossover Foundation, which supports under-privileged youths in inner cities. Bodog has also offered to extend the offer to all other NBA players. The NBA's new dress code requires players to wear business-casual attire whenever they participate in team or league activities, including arriving at games, leaving games, conducting interviews and making promotional appearances.
Ladbrokes Preparing to Grow Beyond the UK
Ladbrokes plans to unveil a massive overseas expansion plan that will see it open betting shops outside Europe for the first time, in accordance with U.K. gambling regulations. The sports betting chain--part of the Hilton Group--aims to set up joint ventures with local companies in overseas markets and open shops under the Ladbrokes brand name. Ladbrokes will provide expertise in a range of areas, including gaming technology, the layout of the shops and managing the books--all in return for a presence on international high streets. The company is expected to unveil the strategy to the market before the end of the year. It hasn't named the governments involved in talks, except for Singapore, where Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong gave the go-ahead for the state's first casinos this year. Hilton, meanwhile, was recently awarded a license to open a casino at its Paddington hotel in London.
Match-Fixing Fallout
Ante Sapina, the 29-year-old Croatian man standing trial along with his brothers Milan and Filip and German referees Robert Hoyzer and Dominik Marks for match fixing in German football, has admitted his guilt in the match-fixing ring to a German Court. The trial is expected to last another month or two, although guilty verdicts for all of the defendants are all but guaranteed. Convictions would mean prison sentences for as much as 10 years or as little as one year. . . . Meanwhile, Brazilian referee Edilson Periera de Carvalho has been banned from the sport for life by Brazilian football authorities for his involvement in a match-fixing ring. All 11 matches that Carvalho admitted to fixing have been ordered replayed. One of the matches that was replayed last week had to be canceled before the end of time because spectators charged the field after a controversial penalty.
Sponsorships
Betfair was the title sponsor of the Betfair.com British Invention Show 2005 at Alexandra Palace in London Oct. 20-23. The fifth annual show featured over 350 bizarre and innovative inventions put on display by inventors from more than 20 countries. . . . European sports book BetandWin has signed a sponsorship package with Czech division one soccer team FC Slovan Liverec that will include the BetandWin logo on players' jerseys for all of the team's matches until July 31, 2008. The sponsorship agreement also includes branding of the club's stadium, the rights to pictures of players and the team and a presence on the club's Web site.