International Olympic Committee IOC partnership for Betfair

IOC partnership for Betfair
1/16/2012


Online casino and betting exchange operator Betfair has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that will see the pair exchange data regarding irregular or suspicious betting patterns during this summer’s London Olympic Games.


According to a report from the BBC, the agreement means that the IOC will be able to request the identities as well as other betting transaction details of Betfair account holders who may have wagered suspiciously.


Betfair signed a similar memorandum of understanding with the IOC for the Olympic Games in Beijing four years ago and stated that the London Olympic Games will be its biggest ever market to date as it is to offer odds on every single gold medal event.


The operator revealed that it will use in-house developed specialised software alongside and a team of ‘integrity experts’ to help identify potentially suspicious transactions before subsequently passing this information to the IOC.


“The interests of sports’ governing bodies like the IOC and Betfair are completely aligned in wanting to ensure consumers can bet on sporting events in a transparent and secure manner,” said Martin Cruddace, Chief Legal and Regulatory Affairs Officer for London-based Betfair.


Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and Olympics, told The Sunday Times newspaper earlier this month that match-fixing had overtaken doping as the biggest threat to the integrity of the Olympics. 


He revealed that the Government Olympic Committee, which is a division within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has established a specialist team to monitor suspicious betting patterns and share intelligence on those who may be attempting to bribe athletes into fixing events.


“You cannot underestimate the threat this poses because the moment that spectators start to feel that what they are seeing is not a true contest that is when spectators stop turning up and the whole thing turns to pieces,” Robertson told The Sunday Times.

Betfair moves business to Gibraltar

Betfair moves business to Gibraltar

Betfair, the online betting exchange which floated in October 2010, has announced its decision to operate under a Gibraltar licence and move its technology infrastructure to Dublin.  The company claims the move will add £10m to profits in 2012 and thereafter a further £20m annually.  The group intends to keep its corporate base in Britain safeguarding the jobs of its 1,200 staff.  Although Betfair will no longer be liable to the 15 per cent tax on gross profits, it will pay corporation tax in the UK.  Chief financial officer Stephen Morana hit out at British gambling regulation saying the licensing regime doesn’t work and that the review of remote gaming being undertaken by the Department for Culture Media and Sport was unclear.  William Hill and Ladbrokes moved their internet operations offshore in 2009.

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Betfair and William Hill target India

October 27, 2009

Betfair and William Hill target India

By James Thompson

Online Sportsbook 

Foreign operators bid for licence in Indian state to grab share of $60bn market

Britain's biggest betting companies are bidding for the first online gambling licence in India to gain a slice of the country's $60bn (£37bn) betting market. The high-street bookie William Hill, along with internet players Betfair and Bwin, are bidding for the internet licence in the Himalayan state of Sikkim in early September. A decision is expected in the next two weeks.

Some 13 betting companies, including local Indian operators, are battling it out for at least three licences in Sikkim. Sources said they want their betting services live from April 2010 - in time for the football World Cup in South Africa. The bookie Ladbrokes and the online specialist 888 are also considering bidding for a licence in Sikkim.

The licence holders will be able to promote their services in Sikkim, but they expect to be able to take bets from all over India. While Sikkim has a population of less than 600,000, India has a rapidly growing population of 1.2 billion. Furthermore, once other Indian states see the huge revenues and tax receipts flowing into Sikkim, they are likely to follow suit. Internet penetration in India remains low by Western standards, but is soaring in the more affluent states.

A William Hill spokesman said: "I can confirm that we are interested in entering the Indian market and we are in discussions with potential partners at the moment." Under Indian law, foreign companies have to partner with a local joint venture operator to launch in the country. William Hill is thought to have held talks with Global Torrent International, based in Sikkim.

Betfair, the peer-to-peer betting exchange, is partnering with Agilisys Managed Services. Betfair, which declined to comment, and Bwin, which did not return calls, have had teams on the ground in India for some time.

A Ladbrokes spokesman said: "We are watching the space to see what happens because there are several partner opportunities to get a licence in the province of Sikkim." 888, which also declined to comment, is also considering bidding for a licence in Sikkim.

The only legal betting activities in India are horse racing, trackside at meetings, and gambling at casinos in just two states, Goa and Sikkim.

According to official figures, legal operators of casinos and horse racing operations make about $400m in revenue in India each year from an estimated total betting turnover of $20bn.

But on the black market - of which cricket accounts for more than half - the total value of bets waged in India each year is at least $40bn. As a result, illegal outfits generate combined operator revenues of about $2bn each year. Online accounts for only a fraction of the overall market.

As all black market betting in India is done on credit, the current default rate - where either bookies or customers do not pay - is estimated to be about 40 per cent, which is a key opportunity that foreign betting companies are keen to exploit. But a degree of uncertainty remains about how the Sikkim licence will apply outside the state. As online gambling will be illegal elsewhere, it is thought that anyone placing a bet with the licensed operators in Sikkim will be breaking the law. But it is believed that criminal liability will be with the customer and not the licence operator in Sikkim.