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.com and Sports.
com, to a group of private 📉 investors for $1, and an assumption of $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] (2015–2018)
CFR Cluj (2017–present)Série B[14] (2022)
Copa Libertadores[15] (Brazil only) 📉 (2023–present)
Copa Sudamericana[15] (Brazil only) (2023–present)
