Football

Last month, the English Premier League (EPL) sold the rights to broadcast its matches between 2016 and 2019 to Sky Sports and BT Sport for a record-breaking £5.14Bn ($7.92Bn). According to research undertaken by Gaming Economics, betting on the EPL is fast overtaking horseracing as the most popular sporting event of choice by UK punters, with in-running betting (IRB) taking …

Financial auditing and consulting firm Deloitte have revealed a pre-tax profit of £190 million for English Premier League (EPL) football clubs in 2013-14, marking its first collective profit in fifteen years. New cost control measures and refined corporate strategies have been highlighted as the drivers for the earnings boost by Deloitte. The combined £190 million earnings are four times higher …

George Harborne, Head of Partnerships at Premier League side West Bromwich Albion, discusses how the betting industry currently works alongside the country’s top football clubs. As far as partnership categories go, betting is one which is a ‘sure thing’, with Premier League clubs deriving some form of income from advertisers in this industry. However, despite the hefty investment from the …

Preparing his company for a Noridic OMX NASDAQ IPO, Spiffx Founder Lennart Gillberg explains to SBC why he is bringing the innovative new betting exchange to the market and his company’s goals for 2015.  SBC: Can you outline your corporate journey from creating an alternative betting exchange to listing on the Nasdaq Nordic OMX? Lennart : We started four years ago by having …

Private equity firm CVC Capital has confirmed the completion of its 80% acquisition stake of Sky Bet from BSkyB. CVC Capital confirmed that its £800 million has been cleared of all regulatory compliances, allowing for the deal to be finalised. Under the terms of the transaction, BskyB has received cash of £600m and a vendor loan note, and will be …

Amidst all the negative attention since the announcement of the new £5.1bn Premier League TV rights deal, we analyse how, despite extensive criticism, it could prove to be a positive occurrence for the beautiful game in the UK. The most immediate potentially positive consequences were discussed in an article featured earlier this month; that of clubs lowering ticket prices for …

Sky Bet have been criticised by UK Labour MP Graham Jones for not honouring it odds on last Wednesday UEFA Champions League match between Chelsea FC vs Paris Saint Germain (PSG). Sky Bet customers had complained that the operator did not pay out on 25-1 odds for PSG to win the knockout tie in extra time at Stamford Bridge. The …

The Czech Republic’s FA (FACR) has extended its existing data and integrity partnership with Sportradar for a further four years, taking the relationship on until the summer of 2019. Under the agreement signed today, Sportradar’s market-leading Fraud Detection System will monitor all the senior and U21s men’s and women’s national team fixtures, all the U19s league matches, the women’s first …

Following the announcement of the £5.1bn TV rights Premier League deal, Tom Mockridge, Virgin Media Chief, has openly stated his concerns that customers will bear the cost of the mammoth new deal. Talking to ITV, Mockridge stated his belief that: “The money only comes from one place in the end which is the consumer.” How much validity is there in …

FIFA match data and analysis subsidiary Early Warning System (EWS) and the Japan Football Association (JFA) agreed on 16 February 2015 to extend a monitoring service agreement in order to protect the integrity of football competitions in Japan. EWS will continue to work alongside the JFA to protect the integrity of football in the region by assisting the JFA with specific services, knowledge transfer and …