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)
