Austrian online betting brand
bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, formerly known as
Betandwin, is an Austrian online betting brand acquired by Entain PLC. The group
operated under international and regional licences in countries like Gibraltar, the
Amerindian reserve of Kahnawake (Canada), and Belize; and Germany, Italy, Mexico,
Croatia, Austria, France,[2] and the United Kingdom in Europe. Bwin offered sports
betting, poker, casino games, and soft and skill games, with most revenue coming from
poker and sports betting. bwin had over 20 million registered customers in more than 25
core markets. Competence centres were located in Vienna, Stockholm, and
Gibraltar.[3]
The company provided services for its subsidiaries such as marketing,
finance, and administration, corporate communications, controlling, and IT services.
All operational activities were managed by licensed subsidiaries. It was listed on the
Vienna Stock Exchange from March 2000 until the company's merger with PartyGaming plc
in March 2011, forming Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. That company was purchased by
GVC Holdings in February 2024; GVC continues to use bwin as a brand.
History [ edit
]
Beginning with 12 employees in its founding in 1997, bwin was formerly known as
"betandwin" until 2006. The company launched its first online gambling site in 1998,
focusing on the growing sports betting market. One of the most important developments
in the company's history was the launch of its live betting product, developed
in-house, allowing players to place bets on sporting events while the actual event was
taking place. The firm's initial public offering at the Austrian Stock Exchange took
place in March 2000.
Betandwin acquired Simon Bold (Gibraltar) in June 2001 and changed
its name to bwin International Ltd. This relocation to Gibraltar was done to keep up
with the company's main competitors, who had already moved to the British Overseas
Territory.
By December 2001, betandwin was ready to step into the online casino gaming
market and did so by launching its first casino platform. Two years later, in July
2003, betandwin introduced and launched a soft games platform known as "Balls of
Fire".
In November 2004, betandwin launched multiplayer poker. In June 2005, the group
acquired betoto, a company which offers a fixed-odds betting service to punters around
the globe, in an effort to expand its presence in the Greek market.
In December 2005,
betandwin acquired Ongame e-Solutions AB, a move consistent with the group's strategy
to expand into the poker market. After the takeover, Ongame e-Solutions changed its
name to bwin Games. In 2005, betandwin acquired global media rights outside of Germany
to the Germany Football League.
In August 2006, betandwin launched the new bwin brand.
This was done after it was found that the betandwin brand, which was described as
"descriptive, high-grade and functional", was not suited anymore for the wide
assortment of entertainment offerings covered by the company, including sports betting,
poker, soft games, and casino games.
In 2007, bwin began to offer live streaming of
major sports events.
In September 2009, bwin announced the acquisition of Italian poker
operator Gioco Digitale, marking the company's entry into the Italian online gambling
market.[4][5]
Bwin is often confused with BetWinner, but they are different bookmakers,
with individual features and advantages.[6]
PartyGaming merger [ edit ]
On April 1,
2011, bwin and British gaming firm PartyGaming announced their merger. The new company
bwin.party became the world's largest publicly traded online gaming firm, 48.4% of
which was owned by existing PartyGaming shareholders and 51.6% by bwin shareholders.
The merged company was listed on the London Stock Exchange, with joint CEO's Norbert
Teufelberger and Jim Ryan.[7] After a takeover of bwin.party by British GVC Group, the
brand bwin continues to exist as customer brand in its portfolio.
Products [ edit ]
The
company's subsidiaries and affiliated companies offer sports betting, poker, casino
games, and soft games, as well as audio and video streams on sporting events, such as
the German Bundesliga. These are all provided via the Internet, and many are also
available via other digital distribution channels, such as mobile phone.
Sports Betting
[ edit ]
Sports bets are the core business at bwin. Today, the sports betting line-up
includes more than 90 different sports; the core area of customer interest is soccer.
Other sports include all popular ball-related sports, US sports, as well as all major
winter sports and motorsports ranging from Formula 1 to MotoGP. "Exotic" sports such as
Roller Hockey, Futsal, and Darts are also included in the daily line-up. Customers can
also find odds on a range of events outside the area of sports. These include bets on
politics and entertainment, such as the Oscars, Talent Shows, the Eurovision Song
Contest, and "Miss" events.[8]
Poker [ edit ]
The following types of games are offered
at bwin Poker: Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud
Hi/Lo, and Five-card draw. In terms of stakes, users can choose between Fixed Limit,
Pot Limit, or No Limit tables. A "play money" version of the games is also available
for users to try for free. bwin offers poker tournaments, including Sit & Go,
scheduled, and cash games (ring games). Sit & Go tournaments begin as soon as the table
is completely occupied. Scheduled tournaments begin at a specified time and allow for a
higher numbers of participants and the highest prize pools. In cash games the players
can join and leave at-will. bwin Poker can be played using the Mac OS X Poker Client,
the Windows Poker Client, the Java Poker Client, or the Mobile Poker Client. The Mac
and Windows versions offer an extensive selection of features such as statistics and a
mini-table function. The Java client is platform-agnostic and browser-based. The mobile
client allows customers to play cash games on their mobile phones.[9]
Casino Games [
edit ]
bwin offers more than 1000+ games, ranging from classics such as roulette or
blackjack to slot machines and casino tournaments. The casino has a longstanding
tradition at bwin, but in 2001, it was introduced as a second product, in addition to
sports betting.[10]
Soft Games [ edit ]
bwin offers more than 60 games divided into the
categories of Fortune Games, Skill Games, Mini Games and "ParaDice", as well as
Backgammon. This is the product group with the biggest potential for innovation and
expansion in the market.[11]
bwin Games AB [ edit ]
bwin Games AB – founded in 1999 and
formerly known as Ongame e-solutions AB – became part of the bwin Group following its
acquisition, in March 2006, by bwin Interactive Entertainment AG.
Within the bwin
Group, bwin Games AB acts as the competence centre for poker and casino games,
developing products via digital distribution channels for bwin proprietarily owned
brands, such as PokerRoom, HoldemPoker, eCardroom, PokerGaming, Europoker, and the
Ongame Network partners.
PokerRoom was an online poker cardroom founded in 1999.
Licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, PokerRoom offered both play and real money
formats. Tournaments and ring games were available in both web-browser and download
client platforms, with support for both Macintosh and Linux. PokerRoom was one of the
first online poker sites to provide multi-language support, and catered to Danish,
German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, and Swedish speakers. These languages were
accessed via "regional sites", many of them showing local sponsorships for the selected
region.
Legal Issues [ edit ]
PokerRoom also maintains a play money only site,
PokerRoom.tv, that is advertised in Canada on the boards of National Hockey League
rinks, as well as on U.S. television networks like ABC.
Awards [ edit ]
PokerRoom has
won industry awards, such as "Poker Site of the Year" from the UK Gambling Awards in
2006 and "Top Poker Software" from the Online Gambling Magazine Awards in
2005.
Shutdown [ edit ]
After 10 years of operation, bwin announced the closure of
PokerRoom on April 14, 2009. Players with money still left in their accounts were
encouraged to transfer their balance and play at bwin.[12] However, PokerRoom players
with large "play money" accounts had to abandon those accounts when transferring to
bwin.
Legal Status [ edit ]
As the global legal framework for Internet gambling is a
complicated mix of laws and regulations, bwin's situation varies depending on the
country concerned. For several years now, the United Kingdom and Italy have been
examples of countries that have regulated their online gaming markets to the advantage
of all stakeholders. Just recently, Italy extended its online licenses to include poker
tournaments, and countries like France, Spain, and Denmark announced their intention to
permit private operators access to their markets under stringent conditions and
controls. Other countries, on the other hand, are still pursuing a policy of
maintaining a state monopoly of internet gaming, or even a complete ban.
On 15
September 2006, Norbert Teufelberger and Manfred Bodner were arrested[13] at a press
conference in La Turbie, France, due to offenses against the French gambling laws.
After an investigation the judge released them on the evening of September 18,
2006.
Due to the enactment of the Safe Port Act, bwin stopped taking bets from United
States-based players in October 2006.[14] The offerings became available again upon
regulation of the markets. In the States where regulation is in place, the same product
line offered through bwin is available through BetMGM, the joint venture of bwin's
parent company Entain PLC's with MGM Resorts International.
On 6 March 2007, the
European Court of Justice struck down Italian national gambling restrictions in the
Placanica case.[15]
The EFTA Court held hearings in January 2007 to decide on the
admissibility of a state monopoly for betting and gaming according to European Law. The
decision of the EFTA Court will be made on 14 March 2007.[citation needed]
In February
2024, bwin ended its operations in Russia. An agreement was made with Parimatch
enabling customers to transfer platforms along with their funds.[16]
bwin sponsored
football giant Real Madrid from 2007 to 2013 and they were also a premium partner of FC
Bayern Munich. In October 2010, bwin announced a sponsorship for the upcoming three
football seasons in which they would be the title sponsor of the Portuguese League Cup
(renamed the "bwin Cup").[17] In July 2010, bwin signed a two-year sponsorship deal
with Italy's second tier, Serie B. Additionally, bwin cooperates with the International
Basketball Association (FIBA) and has been sponsoring the European and World Basketball
Championships since 2006. In the area of motorsport, the company is one of the main
sponsors of the MotoGP series. In 2010, bwin became the title sponsor of the races in
Jerez and Estoril and official partner of the GP in Brno, Misano, Mugello. In the past,
many other popular events across international and local sports were supported by bwin.
bwin also lent its name to the Primeira Liga (bwinLIGA), sponsored Italian football
club Milan from 2006 to 2010, and has also been a partner to popular football clubs,
such as Real Madrid, Juventus and Werder Bremen.[18]
In addition, bwin organised
numerous online and offline poker events. One of the biggest regular online poker
tournaments was the ChampionChip. Special poker tournaments, like the Weekly Country
Showdown or the bwin Dailies, offered a huge range of tournaments adjusted to specific
country regulations and buy-in levels. Periodically new types and variations of Sit &
Go tournaments were launched. Through several online qualifying events, a bwin user
could qualify for offline events like the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the Aussie
Millions, and events on the World Poker Tour. For "poker newbies", bwin offered a
special route - the Rookie Challenge, where a new poker player had the chance to climb
up several stages for free to earn real money tickets.
In 2008, bwin provided the
luxury villa on bwin PokerIsland[19] as filming location for the music video of Lady
Gaga's hit Poker Face. The video featured bwin branded poker equipment through a
product placement campaign.[20]
The company faced some opposition in Europe over its
sponsorship of sports, especially football. In 2006, Bremen banned its top football
team, Sportverein Werder Bremen, from carrying the bwin logo on its shirts.[21] In
November 2009, the city acted further by moving against sport stores which sold shirts
from other teams, such as Milan and Real Madrid.[citation needed]
In 2024, bwin signed
a three-year partnership with Italian football club Inter Milan becoming its first
official betting partner.[22]
In 2024, bwin became Valencia CF's main global sponsor.
The three-year agreement was made official in July 2024.[23] As of 2024 the agreement
is in jeopardy with the Spanish government informing all La Liga clubs that betting
sponsors will be banned from the start of the 2024-22 season.[24]
In 2024, bwin
announced a three-year partnership with the Belgian Pro League becoming the official
sports betting partner of Belgium's top tier football division.[25] The deal will also
cover the Belgian First Division B and Belgian Super Cup. bwin is able to broadcast
live coverage of football matches to customers using both online and mobile platforms
as part of the agreement.
In April 2024, bwin signed a five-year partnership with Liga
Portugal. As part of the deal, the Primeira Liga, Portugal's top football division,
will be called Liga Portugal Bwin from July 2024 onward.[26]
In August 2024, bwin
signed extended deals with German Bundesliga football clubs Borussia Dortmund, Union
Berlin, and FC Köln, as well as 2. Bundesliga clubs FC St. Pauli and Dynamo
Dresden.[27] As part of the deal, bwin will serve as the exclusive sports betting
provider for each team. Each of the agreements will run from the 2024-22 season until
the end of the 2024-24 season.
In September 2024, bwin signed a partnership with UEFA
to become an Official Partner of the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference
League for the 2024–24 seasons.[28]
Responsible Gaming [ edit ]
A dedicated Corporate
Social Responsibility department of the company was in charge of social responsibility.
Protection of minors, protection against manipulation of bets, and the prevention of
gaming addiction were key aspects of the bwin CSRphilosophy. bwin supported research in
this field in a joint project with Harvard Medical School. bwin is a co-founder of the
EGBA (European Gaming and Betting Association), where it lobbied for fair competition
within a regulated online gaming market. As founder and member of the ESSA (European
Sports Security Association), bwin campaigned against manipulation and fraud in the
fields of sports and betting.[29]
Awards [ edit ]
At the annual EGR Awards organised by
eGaming Review magazine, bwin won the "Operator of the Year 2009" award.[30]
