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Betfred Group Holdings Limited is a
bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outco ...
based in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, founded by
Fred Done Fred Done (born March 1943) is a British billionaire businessman and the owner of the bookmaking chain Betfred, which has more than 1,600 betting shops in the UK. Early life Done grew up with three siblings in Ordsall, Greater Manchester. Done ...
.Pronounced to rhyme with "bone". It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall,
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
, in 1967. Its turnover in 2004 was reported to be more than £3.5 billion, having risen from £550 million in 2003 and has continued to grow to over £10 billion in 2018-2019. Following a drop in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the Covid pandemic, published turnover for the year to September 2022 was £8.8 billion. It has its head office is in Birchwood,
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
, and also has offices in Media City,
Salford Quays Salford Quays is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it faces Trafford across the canal. History Built by the Manchester Ship Canal Company, Sal ...
,
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
. Betfred.com, the company's online gambling site, is based in
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
and registered as Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited.


History

Done Bookmakers was first established as a single shop in Ordsall,
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
in 1967.
Fred Done Fred Done (born March 1943) is a British billionaire businessman and the owner of the bookmaking chain Betfred, which has more than 1,600 betting shops in the UK. Early life Done grew up with three siblings in Ordsall, Greater Manchester. Done ...
financed the first Done Bookmakers shop with capital made from a winning bet he placed on England to win the
1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever ...
. In 1997, Done Bookmakers acquired the Robert Walker chain of bookmakers, taking their total to one hundred shops. A mixture of organic and acquisition growth has resulted in Betfred being the largest independent retail bookmaker in the UK. By 2000, the total number of shops nationwide had risen to two hundred, and in 2002, Done Bookmakers opened their first shop in the Greater London area. The current name Betfred was first used in 2004. In 2004, Betfred also launched their digital platform Betfred.com and offer sports betting, online casino, online games, bingo, lotto, online poker and virtual sports as well as pool betting. In November 2004, a Betfred customer became the first betting shop millionaire; a customer known only as Ken selected six winners on the totescoop6 and pocketed £1,132,657 in a Salford shop. Betfred's retail expansion continued with shops opening around the United Kingdom. Betfred's five-hundredth shop opened in Cardiff in 2005. In 2013, the company established Betfred TV, an in-house channel that is available in all shops both on the high street and on the racecourse. This was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. Fred Done was the first bookmaker to pay out early (i.e., before the result was guaranteed), when in March 1998 it paid out to gamblers who had bet that
Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, t ...
would win the
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 Lea ...
, only for
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
to pip United by one point. During the 2004–05 FA Premier League season, Done lost £1m to fellow bookmaker
Victor Chandler Victor William Chandler (born 18 April 1951) is a British businessman, bookmaker, and the former chairman of Victor Chandler International. Early life Chandler is the son of Victor Chandler Sr, and the grandson of William Chandler, who fou ...
after staking that amount that Manchester United would finish higher than Chelsea. The bet was offered to other high profile bookmakers yet only Chandler took him up on the offer. Chelsea finished 18 points clear of third placed Manchester United and won their first Premiership title under
José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...
. Betfred also paid out early on Manchester United to win the
2011–12 Premier League The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012 with Manchester C ...
title, only for
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
to beat them on goal difference. It was widely reported in April 2010 that Fred Done formed part of the "Red Knights" consortium that were looking to buy English Premier League club Manchester United from the
Glazer Family Malcolm Glazer (August 15, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American businessman and sports team owner. He was the president and chief executive officer of First Allied Corporation, a holding company for his varied business interests, and owne ...
. The reports proved to be incorrect, but Done remained a season ticket holder at Old Trafford. As of July 2017, Betfred operated over 1,650 shops throughout the United Kingdom, after the purchase of 322 shops due to the merger between fellow bookmakers Ladbrokes and Coral in October 2016. Betfred also operates shops on fifty one racecourses around the country, including Newmarket,
Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...
and
Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...
. In August 2017, Betfred appointed former
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
and England footballer
Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...
as its brand ambassador. The company believed Pearce to be the epitome of Betfred: uncomplicated. In September 2017, Betfred celebrated their 50th year of business. A documentary film about the history of the company was released on the official channel of Betfred on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. In July 2018, Betfred won a court case against
HM Revenue & Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...
(HMRC). The ruling states that Betfred overpaid
Value-Added Tax A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...
(VAT), and could see a £100 million refund. In November 2018, punter David Smith took Betfred to court after he claimed to have won a jackpot of £212,000, having mistakenly written "Bailarico", a losing horse, on the betting slip, rather than "Bialco", a winner. The betting arbitrator IBAS ruled against him.


Sponsorship


Horse racing

Betfred is one of the largest sponsors of
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
in the United Kingdom, with races spread across racecourses in the country, including the Midlands National run at
Uttoxeter Racecourse Uttoxeter Racecourse is a National Hunt racecourse in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. Course Uttoxeter is a left-handed oval shaped course of 1 mile 2½ furlongs in circumference. The back ‘straight’ has a dog-leg to the right and ...
, the
Dante Stakes The Dante Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards () ...
and
Ebor Handicap The Ebor Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 5 furlongs and 188 yards (2,787 metres). It i ...
both at
York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot Racecourse, Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It att ...
, and the Betfred
Cesarewitch Handicap The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs (3,621 met ...
on the Rowley Mile course at
Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...
. In 2005, Betfred became sponsors of the Group One Sprint Cup at
Haydock Park Haydock Park Racecourse is a racecourse in Merseyside, North West England. The racecourse is set in an area of parkland bounded by the towns of Haydock to the west, Ashton-in-Makerfield to the north, Golborne to the east and Newton-le-Willows ...
. The race is run over the minimum distance of five furlongs. The sponsorship ended in 2016. Betfred also sponsored the most prestigious jumps race the
Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...
between the years of 2012 and 2015.


Rugby league

In October 2016, Betfred began a three-year period as the main sponsor of rugby league's
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
, the northern hemisphere's top-level professional rugby league with ten teams spread across England, and one in France. In October 2021, Betfred signed a renewed agreement with the rugby Super League Europe


Snooker

Betfred sponsored the
World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...
s from 2009 to 2012, before losing the sponsorship rights. In 2015, it was announced that Betfred were to become the sponsors of the tournament once again, and increase the winner's prize money to £375,000.


Football

Betfred was the official betting partner of
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
from 2006 to 2013. This partnership was renewed ahead of the 2022/2023 football season In May 2016, it was announced that Betfred would take over sponsorship of the
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
for three years, rebranding it the Betfred Cup. In June 2017, Betfred was confirmed as the new official shirt sponsors of
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
side
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
, in an agreement which lasted for two years. In June 2019, Betfred took over the shirt sponsorship rights for
RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...
for the next two years.


Darts

In July 2019, Betfred announced that it had been installed as the official sponsor for the PDC's World Matchplay tournament until 2022. Betfred announced before the 2022 event that they had renewed the sponsorship deal, which will see them become sponsors of the tournament until 2025.


Golf

In August, 2024, Betfred was the title sponsor of the Betfred
British Masters The Betfred British Masters is a professional golf tournament. It was founded in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters and was held every year up to 2008, except for 1984. Dunlop's sponsorship ended in 1982, and the name sponsor changed frequently there ...
hosted by Sir
Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...
.


Sponsorships in the USA

Betfredsports.com, Betfred's digital and retail presence in the USA, has official partnerships with
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
teams, the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
and
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
, whilst they are partners of the
Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...
of the
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
and
Loudoun United FC Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. After ownership changes, it ceased being ...
of the
USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...
, which includes a jersey sponsorship.


The Tote

On 3 June 2011, Betfred won the auction to purchase
The Tote The Tote is a British gambling company founded in 1928. It operates the world's largest online pool betting website. Its product offering also includes sports betting and online casino. Business operations are led from its headquarters in W ...
, the government-owned betting operation, in a deal worth £265m. The counter bid was lodged by the SIP (Sports Investment Partners) consortium headed by former city banker and British Airways chairman Sir Martin Broughton. Betfred pledged £155m into racing over the next seven years, as well as creating the Tote Racing Development Board, giving greater say to industry figures. In September 2016, according to the
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. I ...
"In terms of the Tote Racing Development Board, I can confirm that as a stand alone concept it has not been set up to date. Betfred has confirmed that Totepool work with race course owners and management on a continuing basis (which may serve the same purpose as the intended Tote racing development board)." The deal gave Betfred exclusive control over the on course betting system for seven years. In 2018, the exclusive licence taken out by Betfred officially ran out.


Regulatory action

In June 2016 the
Gambling Commission The Gambling Commission is an executive, non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for regulating gambling and supervising gaming law in Great Britain. Its remit covers arcades, betting, bingo, casin ...
required Betfred to pay more than £800,000 in compensation and in contribution towards socially responsible causes as part of a regulatory settlement. This was in response to Betfred's failure to adhere to its anti money laundering and social responsibility policies. The Gambling Commission's investigation followed a court case that resulted in one customer of Betfred being jailed for three years and four months, after admitting to stealing from his employer. A significant proportion of the stolen money was spent with Betfred. In April 2019 the Commission ordered Betfred and
Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in Dublin, alongside a satellite office ...
to terminate new betting products. This followed the introduction of reduced maximum stakes on
fixed odds betting terminals A fixed odds betting terminal (FOBT, sometimes pronounced "fob-tee") is a type of electronic slot machine normally found in betting shops in the United Kingdom and introduced in 1999. The terminals allow players to bet on the outcome of vario ...
(FOBTS) from £100 to £2. The Commission was "concerned that the new products undermine the changes made". ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' accused the companies of trying to circumvent the government's enforced FOBTs £2 reduction, with their new games. Betfred's "Virtual Cycling" product offered customers the chance to wager up to £500 per stake. Both Paddy Power and Betfred withdrew their games. The Gambling Commission said it was investigating the matter and that both bookmakers could "still face regulatory action", as it investigated "key senior staff at bookmakers who are responsible for bringing those products to market". In October 2019 the Commission ordered Petfre, Betfred's parent, to pay £322,000 for money laundering failures. An investigation revealed the operator had failed to carry out adequate "source of funds" checks on a customer who deposited £210,000, and lost £140,000, of stolen money over one twelve-day period in November 2017. The Commission said that one customer who was able to deposit and lose such significant amounts in such a short period of time clearly indicated failings in the effectiveness of Petfre's anti money laundering policies and procedures. In April 2021, Betfred lost a High Court case against Andrew Green from
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
who had won £1.7 million in a Jackpot Game. Betfred had denied payments due to faulty software but High Court ruled against Betfred.


Broadcasting

The company are the brand owners of ''Thesportsman.com'' (The Sportsman Communications Limited), an online sports news and broadcaster established in 2017. Betfred chairman,
Fred Done Fred Done (born March 1943) is a British billionaire businessman and the owner of the bookmaking chain Betfred, which has more than 1,600 betting shops in the UK. Early life Done grew up with three siblings in Ordsall, Greater Manchester. Done ...
is a major shareholder of The Sportsman Communications Limited. Starting as a sport news website, the company stepped forward into live sport broadcasting when it signed a deal with the
Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...
to show a number of matches from the
2021 Challenge Cup The 2021 Challenge Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2021 Betfred Challenge Cup, was the 120th edition of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout tournament in British rugby league run by the Rugby Football League (RFL). This yea ...
. This was followed with a 2022 deal to show rugby league games from the
Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
, League 1, the
Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...
and Wheelchair rugby league.


Notes and references


Explanatory notes


References


External links

* * {{Commons category-inline, Betfred Companies based in Warrington Bookmakers Gambling companies of the United Kingdom