Betfair sign marketing deal with NRL team, Wests Tigers

Betfair's sponsorship portfolio in Australia now covers Betfair Park racing, Hawthorn FC, numerous sport and racing sponsorships in Tasmania and now the Wests Tigers. A big step up from the doom-sayers saying every cent would go back to the UK when lobbying for a licence just a few yrs ago.

Read the LeagueHQ article here

An interesting progression considering that the NRL has been the sporting body most concerned (or should I say hypocritical?) regarding gambling sponsorship. A decade ago when the government-owned SportsTAB opened, the NRL couldn't give them enough perimeter signage. A change of CEO and public sentiment re gambling, particularly in NSW where the league clubs' finances are heavily based on the pokies clubs and the gambling problems they create, and those relationships changed.

Over the years the NRL has had a few minor gambling scandals, nothing of the magnitude of match-fixing, but more exotic markets such as First Tryscorer and TV markets such as Man of the Match. Signing integrity deals with betting companies, particularly those which don't accept cash, can only be good for the sport.

Betfair won't be the only betting firm sponsoring in the NRL this season. BetEzy is setting up white-label sites to sponsor a few teams as well, and the big mouth of rugby league journalism, Peter Fitzsimons, shows the level of his sports-betting knowledge with this piece.

Punters born every minute

LET'S be clear about this. Show me a sports gambler and I will show you a loser. I don't mean one who loses every time - for of course there will be the occasional you-bloody-beauty! win. I mean that, over time, by simple dint of the immutable laws of mathematics, the sports gambler will lose money. All too often, that money is rent, grocery and mortgage money. Any objections yet? Any cries of "that's not true and that's not fair!"? Sit down and shut up. You are only saying that because you are either in the industry, or a regular sports gambler who doesn't care to acknowledge that you have been pissing your money up against the wall.

And I thought ex-rugby players were supposed to be intelligent. Just because every pub is full of mug punters, it doesn't mean we all are. And sports betting is the ONE area of gambling you can win on with a bit of nous. Gambling companies sponsor sports events and teams all around the world, why is it that Australians think they can take the moral high ground? The form of gambling that screws people is gaming, namely casinos and poker (slot) machines. Get rid of those and over 90% of problem gambling issues are solved.

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also, ...

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur...

Sport is made for betting

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