SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
UK national newspaper The Guardian has ended its sports betting partnership with technology and betting services platform FSB Technology. The newspaper announced that it would no longer run its GoWager betting service on the Guardian.co.uk website.
The Guardian’s partnership with FSB Technology had begun in February 2014, with the launch of GoWager services on selected betting markets. However the newspaper was soon forced to review its betting partnership after facing criticism and opposition from its readership for the promotion of gambling products.
In recent years the left-wing leaning newspaper had taken a strong stance against UK gambling, in particular the issue of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT’s). Following the launch of its betting service, The Guardian faced calls of hypocrisy from its readership forcing the newspapers management to review the product.
Industry news source EGR Magazine reported that the Guardian Media Group had stated the following:-
“Guardian News & Media is always seeking new ways to innovate commercially, but we are also mindful of the views of our readers, some of which were outlined in a readers’ editor’s column about GoWager last year”.
“This decision was unrelated to the services provided by FSB Technology and the GoWager website will continue without Guardian involvement”.
