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Sportingbet
Sportingbet is a British online gambling operator, owned by Entain plc. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index prior to its acquisition by GVC holdings. History The company was founded by Mark Blandford in 1997. Sportingbet acquired Paradise Poker in October 2004. On 7 September 2006 Sportingbet reported that its then chairman, Peter Dicks, was detained in New York City on a Louisiana warrant while traveling in the United States on business unrelated to online gambling. Louisiana is one of the few states that has a specific law prohibiting gambling online. In March 2007, all Louisiana warrants involving the company were cancelled. In October 2006, Sportingbet announced Paradise Poker would stop taking deposits from US customers, although most would be allowed to continue to play for another month. Additionally, Sportingbet sold all its US-facing sports betting and casino businesses, including Sportsbook.com and S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Blandford (Entrepreneur)
Mark Blandford (born 1957 in Hereford) is the founder of Sportingbet plc, at one time the world's largest bookmaking operation and a pioneer in online gambling. Blandford is also the former chairman and CEO. Sportingbet Blandford was one of the earliest offline bookmakers to see the potential for sports betting online. Previously the owner of a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ bookmaking operation for over 15 years, Mark recognized the potential of the internet in the mid-1990s and sold his chain to Tote Bookmakers in 1997. In October 1998 he launched Sportingbet and in January 2001 the Company floated on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market in a landmark transaction for the online gaming industry. With Sportingbet, Blandford went on to be voted AIM Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002 and later earned the company the honour of AIM Transaction of the Year in 2005. Blandford left day-to-day operations at Sportingbet in 2006 and now works as a venture capital i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Dicks
Peter F. Dicks (born 1942) is a London-based investment manager and venture capitalist. He was the co-founder of Abingworth (company), Abingworth PLC, one of the earlier venture capital funds in Europe. He is also the former chairman of Sportingbet, Sportingbet PLC, one of the world's largest sportsbooks. He is currently a committee vice-chairman with Mercia Fund Management. Career Early in his career, Dicks was a stock broker with Joseph Sebag, Joseph Sebag & Co where he met Anthony Montagu. In 1973, Dicks and Montagu left Joseph Sebag and formed Abingworth PLC in London. Abingworth was one of the earlier venture capital firms formed in Europe. Abingworth primarily invested in early-stage companies, specializing in technology start-up companies in the United States, and invested in such notable companies as Apple Computer, Silicon Graphics and 3COM. Dicks has served as non-executive chairman or director of numerous companies and investment funds, but it was Dicks' tenure as no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entain
Entain plc, formerly GVC Holdings, is an international sports betting and gambling company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It owns brands such as bwin, Coral (bookmaker), Coral, Ladbrokes, PartyPoker, and Sportingbet. History The company was incorporated in Luxembourg in 2004 as Gaming VC Holdings S.A. It was founded by a group of four American businesspersons, led by Steve Barlow, as a vehicle to acquire Casino-Club, an online casino established in 2001 that was reportedly the largest online gambling operator in German-speaking countries. The company made its initial public offering on the Alternative Investment Market, AIM exchange on 21 December 2004, raising funds that were used to complete the €105-million acquisition of Casino-Club on the same day. In 2010, Gaming VC was reorganised in the Isle of Man as GVC Holdings. In 2012, GVC and William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill bought Sportingbet, with William Hill takin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Online Poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 to $2.4 billion in 2005, while a survey carried out by DrKW and Global Betting and Gaming Consultants asserted online poker revenues in 2004 were at $1.4 billion. In a testimony before the United States Senate regarding Internet gaming, Internet Gaming, Grant Eve, a Certified Public Accountant representing the US Accounting Firm Joseph Eve, Certified Public Accountants, estimated that one in every four dollars gambled is gambled online. Traditional (or "brick and mortar", B&M, live, land-based) venues for playing poker, such as casinos and poker rooms, may be intimidating for novice players and are often located in geographically disparate locations. Also, brick and mortar casinos are reluctant to promote poker because it is difficult for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Hill (bookmaker)
William Hill is a British gambling company founded in 1934. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in London, with a satellite office in Malta. The company was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Caesars Entertainment (2020), Caesars Entertainment in April 2021. In July 2022, William Hill was subsequently bought by Evoke plc, 888 Holdings for £2.2 billion. History The company was founded by William Hill (businessman), William Hill in 1934. It changed hands many times, being acquired by Sears plc, Sears Holdings in 1971, then by Grand Metropolitan in 1988, then by Brent Walker in 1989. In September 1996, Brent Walker recouped £117m of the £685m it had paid for William Hill when Grand Metropolitan was found to have exaggerated the company's profits at the time of the sale. Japanese investment banking, investment bank Nomura Group, Nomura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Football League Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the English football league system, sitting below the Premier League. Introduced for the 2004–05 in English football, 2004–05 season as the Football League Championship, the division is a rebrand of the former Football League First Division. The winning football team, club of this division each season receives the EFL Championship trophy, which was the previous trophy awarded to list of English football champions, the winners of the English top-flight prior to the launch of the Premier League. As with other divisions of professional English football, Welsh clubs can be part of this division, thus making it a cross-border league. Each season, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League (EFL). Seasons usually run from August to May, with each team playing 38 matches: two against each other team, one home and one away. Most games are played on weekend afternoons, with occasional weekday evening fixtures. The competition was founded as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992, following the decision of clubs from the Football League First Division, First Division (the top tier since 1888) to break away from the English Football League. Teams are still promoted and relegated to and from the EFL Championship each season. The Premier League is a corporation managed by a Richard Masters (football), chief executive, with member clubs as shareholders. The Premier League takes advantage of a £5 billion domestic televi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime boundary, maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of nearly . An estimated people live in the capital and largest city, San José, Costa Rica, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area. The sovereign state is a Presidential system, presidential republic. It has a long-standing and stable Constitution of Costa Rica, constitutional democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EFL League One
The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League and the third tier overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League and the EFL Championship. It is contested by 24 clubs. Introduced in the 2004–05 English football season as Football League One, it is a rebrand of the former Football League Second Division. Burton Albion currently hold the longest tenure in the division following relegation from the Championship at the end of the 2017–18 season. There are nine former Premier League clubs currently competing in this division, named Barnsley (1997–98), Blackpool (2010–11), Bolton Wanderers (1995–96, 1997–98, and 2001–12), Bradford City (1999-2001), Cardiff City (2013-14 and 2018-19), Huddersfield Town (2017–19), Luton Town (2023-24), Reading (200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic Of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. Its capital city, capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island, with a population of over 1.5 million. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, which is Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a Unitary state, unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the , consists of a lower house, ; an upper house, ; and an elected President of Ireland, president () who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the (prime minister, ), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franchising
Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its business model, brand, and rights to sell its branded products and services to a franchisee. In return, the franchisee pays certain fees and agrees to comply with certain obligations, typically set out in a franchise agreement. The word ''franchise'' is of Anglo-French derivation—from , meaning 'free'—and is used both as a noun and as a (transitive) verb. For the franchisor, use of a franchise system is an alternative business growth strategy, compared to expansion through corporate owned outlets or "chain stores". Adopting a franchise system business growth strategy for the sale and distribution of goods and services minimizes the franchisor's capital investment and liability risk. Franchising is rarely an equal partnership, especially in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
