British online gambling operator
Sportingbet is a British online gambling operator,
owned by Entain plc. The company was listed on the 💳 London Stock Exchange and was a
constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index prior to its acquisition by GVC
holdings.
History [ 💳 edit ]
The company was founded by Mark Blandford in 1997.[2]
Sportingbet acquired Paradise Poker in October 2004.[3] On 7 September 💳 2006 Sportingbet
reported that its then chairman, Peter Dicks, was detained in New York City on a
Louisiana warrant while 💳 traveling in the United States on business unrelated to online
gambling.[4] Louisiana is one of the few states that has 💳 a specific law prohibiting
gambling online. In March 2007, all Louisiana warrants involving the company were
cancelled.[5]
In October 2006, Sportingbet 💳 announced Paradise Poker would stop taking
deposits from US customers, although most would be allowed to continue to play for
💳 another month.[6] Additionally, Sportingbet sold all its US-facing sports betting and
casino businesses, including Sportsbook and Sports, to a group 💳 of private investors
forR$1, and an assumption ofR$13.2 million in debts.[7]
In February 2007, Sportingbet
announced it was eliminating its Paradise 💳 Poker software and migrating players to its
Sportingbet Poker platform. Prior to this, the two platforms had approximately the same
💳 number of players, but the Sportingbet platform had higher liquidity because that
platform was part of a larger network. The 💳 brand name of Paradise Poker was
retained.[8]
In 2008, Netbet (Pty) Ltd, a company in South Africa, licensed the
Sportingbet brand 💳 for online gambling in South Africa.
In October 2012, Sportingbet
announced its board had agreed to preliminary terms for a £530 💳 million takeover bid
from UK bookmaker William Hill and Isle of Man-based GVC Holdings.[9] Under the terms,
Sportingbet's Australian and 💳 Spanish operations were bought by William
Hill.[10]
Operations [ edit ]
Sportingbet operates local-focused sportsbooks, virtual
games and casino sites, and the 💳 online poker cardroom, Paradise Poker. Overall, the
company has over 2.5 million registered customers in 200 countries, who place over 💳 one
million bets (casino, poker, sports and virtual games) per day.
Sportingbet operates
several websites. The largest of these are wholly 💳 owned and operated by Sportingbet.
They also use a system similar to a franchise, in which independent website operators
use 💳 Sportingbet's centralised software, financial services, trading, and customer
service under license. These web sites receive a cut of the profits 💳 their customers
generate.
Sportingbet's corporate offices are located in Guernsey. They also have
offices and call centres in the Republic of 💳 Ireland and Costa Rica. The PLC is located
in Moorgate, London.
The company sponsored Premier League, Championship and League One
football 💳 team Wolverhampton Wanderers from the 2009–10 season until the 2013–14
season.[11] This link-up with a football club first began in 💳 January 2009, when
Bulgarian football club Slavia Sofia announced a 3-year sponsoring deal. As a result,
the logo of the 💳 company appeared on the club's shirts for the 2008–09, 2009–10 and
2010–11 seasons of the Bulgarian A PFG. Sportingbet also 💳 sponsored Steaua Bucuresti of
Romania for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 season. The logo also appeared on Steaua Bucuresti
II, Steaua's 💳 reserve team's shirt, which now plays in Liga. Sportingbet also sponsored
division 1 Victorian amateur football team Banyule FC for 💳 the 2010–2011
seasons.[12]
PAOK FC[13] (2024–2024)
CFR Cluj (2024–present)
Série B[14] (2024)
Copa
Libertadores[15] (Brazil only) (2024–present)
Copa Sudamericana[15] (Brazil only)
(2024–present)
