FIFA Launches Betting Probe
A FIFA panel that commenced this month with the aim of looking into football's problems will explore corruption and sports betting, and among its considerations is the creation of an advanced alert system in cooperation with sports betting centers. The panel hopes to present its findings to the full executive committee before the end of the year.
IGW Signs betinternet.com
Software provider IGW and online sports book betinternet.com have announced an agreement through which the former will supply its "Tyche" sports betting platform to the latter. The scalable system is designed to give operators optimum control over content, liability and customer management. The new betinternet platform is expected to go live in Q1 2006.
PlayersOnly's Kickoff Party
The PlayersOnly.com calendar girls and VIPs were in New York this month to usher in the start of the 2005 National Football League season at what the sports book has billed the "first ever NFL kick-off party." The bookmaker also announced a contest through which one lucky player will win a trip that includes four days of golf, football betting, sport fishing and poker in the Caribbean. Customers are automatically entered into the Calendar Girls Party drawing every time they place bets - the more bets, the more chances to win.
Home Prices at a Pinnacle?
Low mortgage rates and favorable market conditions in the United States have attracted home buyers at staggering rates, pushing prices to all-time highs in the past year. Although the U.S. housing market continued its unprecedented growth in the second quarter, several economists, including Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, believe prices will peak soon. With the housing boom on the minds of both buyers and sellers, PinnacleSports.com released betting options this month on home prices in some of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. The site expanded wagering by offering betting options on the third quarter median home prices in numerous metropolitan areas as reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Nov. 15. The oddsmakers at Pinnacle are at odds with economists, predicting that third quarter prices in numerous metro areas will again show significant growth. In the second quarter NAR reported a median home price in the Phoenix market of $243,000, an increase of 47 percent over the same period in 2004. PinnacleSports.com has set an over/under line for the median price in Phoenix of $263,000 in the third quarter, an 8 percent jump in the nation's fastest growing market.
BoDiddy
Bodog Entertainment Group sponsored the Sean "Diddy" Combs' official after-party following the recent MTV Video Music Awards. Diddy hosted the awards show in Miami, and a parade of celebrities and music industry power players attended his after-party.
EUFA Raises Money Laundering Concerns
European soccer's governing body is increasingly concerned that criminals may be using football to launder money either by buying into clubs or gambling on match results. Chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said this month that UEFA was increasing its efforts to establish the source of the money pouring into the game and to stop match fixes by Asian betting syndicates. "The whole idea of vast amounts of money coming into football presents us with an alarming situation," Olsson said, "one that, because of modern technology like the Internet, can cross borders, and one that can be very difficult to legislate against."
Betfair Hires Marketing Help
Betfair, the online betting exchange, has hired integrated agency BLAC to handle its £2.5 million marketing business. The agency is tasked with raising Betfair's profile beyond its core horseracing focus and into football, golf and other sports via sponsorship, viral marketing and below-the-line activity.
Sportsbook.com Bettors Like Cheney
Sportsbook.com says bettors are zeroing in on Vice President Cheney as the next American president. The online sports book and casino has seen a significant rise in wagering on Vice President Dick Cheney as the likely winner of the presidential race in 2008. Odds on Cheney have improved from 100-1, when betting on presidential candidates opened in May, to 20-1. The increase in betting activity comes in the wake of recent media speculation on Cheney's chances of winning the Republican nomination during the 2008 primaries. Despite Cheney's improving odds, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani remains the Republican favorite with 10-1 odds. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has gone from 15-1 to 25-1 odds. Barack Obama, Illinois Senator and darling of the Democratic Party, has also seen his stock decline and now sits as a 70-1 favorite (down from an opening line of 30-1). Sportsbook.com is also offering odds on a number of less likely presidential candidates, including film director Michael Moore, conservative news personality Bill O'Reilly and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
SKY Gets America's Cup Deal
SKY Sports has been awarded live and exclusive rights to the 32nd America's Cup yacht race for 2007. The America's Cup, the most prestigious prize in yacht racing, will be staged in Valencia in 2007 and screened live and exclusively in England on Sky Sports. Prior to the final series of races, Sky Sports will also broadcast highlights of the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series and the opening Acts, the series of qualifying races held in 2005 and 2006. Sky said it plans to integrate its coverage of the race with its interactive TV sports betting platform.