Betfair fixed-odds sportsbook edges closer
Operator will run new product alongside core exchange offering.
Betfair has confirmed its plans to launch a fixed-odds sportsbook offering distinct from its core betting exchange.
The operator had already announced its intention to introduce such a product in South Africa, where fixed-odds sports betting is the only legal form of online gambling, and has applied for the relevant licence in the Commonwealth country’s Western Cape province.
However, interim chief executive Stephen Morana has confirmed to financial news site This is Money that the operator plans to bring in “an integrated risk product that will complement the exchange, not compete with it.”
The statement supports comments made to eGaming Review last December, with Morana declaring at the time that the launch would take place in time for June’s European football championships and that Betfair would become “the market leader” in fixed-odds as well as exchange betting.
“Our sports exchange always has been “ and always will be “ Betfair’s core product… but we also recognise that there are certain bets at certain times that the exchange, by its nature, cannot offer,” added Morana, who is heading up the company until the arrival of Breon Corcoran as CEO in August.
Analyst Simon French of Panmure Gordon noted this morning that “There is not universal acceptance of the exchange model in regulating markets, e.g. Germany and Greece,” making these two further markets where the operator could see greater benefit from the new product.
Meanwhile analyst Ivor Jones of Numis claimed in a note last year that “If Betfair came to dominate fixed odds sports betting in the same way it currently dominates overall sports betting, then it has the potential to more than double group profits.”