BetMakers signs with William Hill in bid to expand UK and US market presence
The BetMarkers’ deal with international bookmaker William Hill Global commences immediately.
Supplier of racing data and analytics, ASX-listed The BetMakers (ASX: TBH), has signed an agreement via its subsidiary Global Betting Services Pty Ltd to provide a global racing solution for William Hill Global – one of the world’s leading betting companies – until the year 2020.
The deal follows a successful relationship within the Australian market, in which William Hill has made tremendous strides in gaining market share in recent years.
The agreement entails the provision of services for William Hill’s retail and online units that serve its business-to-business customers throughout the UK and US.
With the ink on the contract barely dry, BetMakers has declared that the deal is expected to have a “material economic impact” on the company.
Global Betting has agreed to provide William Hill with key offerings from its global products and services suite, including “Premium Price Manager”, which allows William Hill to automatically and instantly price thousands of racing events simultaneously without the need to increase resources, such as traders and IT staff.
Furthermore, Global Betting will provide what it calls “Racing Data Delivery Services”, which combines data feeds from numerous jurisdictions into a single manageable solution, enabling William Hill to expand the number of events it can offer, as well as, the services it offers to its wholesale business clients.
Finally, William Hill will receive “Tote access”, which will allow the global betting company to offer another wagering product to its fixed odds racing product line-up in the UK and US markets.
The majority of its £1.7 billion (A$3.05 billion) annual revenues are still derived from the UK, where it has a national presence of licensed betting offices and one of the leading online betting and gaming services.
In the US, William Hill is also gradually expanding its market footprint.
Back in 2012, it established William Hill US with a focus on retail and mobile operations in Nevada, which is now the largest sports betting business in the US.
William Hill’s US entity currently operates 126 race and sports books in Nevada, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia and Iowa, as well as offering a variety of other services in Delaware and Rhode Island.
US market focus
Tote is expected to obtain greatest market traction where “pari-mutuel” betting, a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool.
This form of betting currently legal across most of the US states although some jurisdictions have chosen to classify it as a form of illegal gambling.
“Given William Hill Global power more than 100 sportsbooks in Nevada alone, and it has made its intention clear that the US is a major focus, we are excited about the prospect of working with William Hill Global as it expands throughout the US,” said Mr Todd Buckingham, CEO of The BetMakers.
“After a very successful six years of working with Global Betting Services under the William Hill Australia brands, William Hill Group Trading is committed to working more closely with The BetMakers as the company pushes towards a worldwide racing trading product,” said Terry Pattinson, trading director of William Hill Group.
“Implementing The BetMakers’ products will allow us to offer an unparalleled global racing product in all racing jurisdictions as we further expand outside the UK, with racing product from Asia, Europe, Australia and importantly North America being a key driver of our expansion,” added Mr Pattinson.
As a result of today’s development, BetMakers Holdings saw its shares jump almost 24% up to $0.073 per share by midday trade.