Online gambling company Betfair has highlighted the impact of this year’s Fifa World Cup national team football competition as the key reason behind a significant year-on-year jump in revenue during the three months through to July 31, 2014.
The firm posted total net gaming revenue of £117.3 million (€146.8 million/$193 million) in the first quarter, which represents an increase of 30% on the £90.4 million achieved in the corresponding period last year.
Sports betting revenue in the period improved by 30% to £83 million, thanks in part to the impact of the World Cup, during which Betfair generated £15.9 million.
Elsewhere, revenue from Betfair’s gaming business grew by 45% to £19.8m while revenue from its Betfair US operation leapt by 14% in the first quarter to £14.2 million.
Aside from revenue, Betfair was also able to report an increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, which grew by 39% from £24.9 million last year to £34.5 million in the most recent quarter.
Breon Corcoran, chief executive officer of Betfair, said: “Betfair’s ongoing product innovation and marketing investment led to an excellent quarter against all key metrics, with continued momentum in sustainable revenues and customer numbers enhanced by a strong World Cup.
“The World Cup offered a unique opportunity to acquire new customers and increase engagement with existing customers. As a result, we saw record new customer activations and a 65% increase in the number of active customers in sustainable markets.”
Meanwhile, Betfair has had a number of its website adverts banned after the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that they misled customers over a money-back claim.
Four consumers challenged whether the adverts, which were featured during the Wimbledon tennis championships and football’s World Cup, were misleading.
The adverts stated text such as “2014 Wimbledon first bet only money back is Murray win”, relating to Scottish tennis player Andy Murray.
Consumers challenged that the adverts were misleading as they did not make clear that the ‘money back’ was in fact paid in fee bets.
Betfair said that as the adverts were restricted by space, it used ‘money back’ rather than ‘money back as a free bet’ to describe the offers as the term was ‘well understood’ by punters.
Betfair also said that when clicked on, the advert would display the full conditions of the offer and that consumers would be unable to access the offer without clicking on the advert.
Despite having argued that the adverts were not misleading, the firm acknowledged that the adverts, which were also used during the World Cup to promote offers, did not initially make clear that the stake would be returned as a free bet.
The ASA ruled that the adverts must not appear again in their current form.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
