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Tuesday, 9th February 2010

Ukbetting launches its first mobile phone soccer channel

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Published Date: 19 April 2005
Ros Snowdon
Deputy City Editor

ONLINE bookmaker Ukbetting is to launch its first stand-alone channel on the UK's largest 3G mobile phone network.
Ukbetting's football content site Football365 will provide 3, the UK's first video mobile network, with a managed site which customers can access directly through their 3G video mobile phones.
Customers will be able to view a wide range of free and paid-for football news via the Football365 website.
The content will include editorial comment, competitions and football weekend previews.
3, which has over three million customers, said Football365 would be the sole provider of football mobile phone wallpapers and ringtones on the 3 network.
The announcement follows news last week of Ukbetting's first ever profit although investors were disappointed the group only made earnings of £100,000.
The group, which operates the Leeds-based Sportinglife.com, Teamtalk.com and Football365.com websites, said it had made its first profit after three years of buying smaller loss-making businesses.
Chairman Peter Dubens said that the growth of broadband had transformed online gaming.
"A year ago there were only two million broadband users, now there are five million. To play you really need broadband, narrow band is too slow, it has transformed the business," he said.
It has also had a major effect on profits.
A year ago poker and casino games accounted for a mere 10 per cent of the business, but now these games make up 60 per cent of profits.
At the same time, the group is seeing a move away from betting on horse racing and the outcome of football matches towards more visual, skill-based games such as poker and casino.
In early 2004 horse racing and football made up 90 per cent of the business whereas now it only accounts for 40 per cent. By the end of this year it will account for less than 30 per cent.

STANLEY TALKS GOING ON SAYS HILL
WILLIAM HILL confirmed yesterday it was in talks to buy Stanley Leisure's betting shops, raising speculation that Stanley's casinos could be merged with rival group London Clubs International, writes Ros Snowdon.
Talking about the £500m William Hill deal, analysts said that with Stanley's betting shops predominantly in the North and William Hill's focused on the South, there were unlikely to be any major competition issues.
In a statement, William Hill said it was in exclusive discussions with Stanley while it also carried out due diligence on the business, which generated turnover of £1.48bn in the year to May 2004.
It said that there was no certainty at this stage that a transaction would be agreed.
A sale of the betting business, which trades as Stanleybet, would leave Stanley with its casino arm, which owns some of London's leading gaming halls and 37 sites in cities including Bristol, Liverpool and Birmingham.
William Hill said it had postponed plans to return £453m in cash to shareholders while it looks at the potential acquisition.
The company said: "Although there can be no certainty at this stage that a transaction will be agreed, the board of William Hill believes that the potential acquisition represents a particularly attractive opportunity for us."
If a deal goes ahead William Hill will have around a quarter of the total UK estate of 8,500 sites.

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