“Sportal is so strong and Ukbetting is hoping to ride on its success. It will use Sportal’s user base to get additional exposure,” Sarah Manners, a spokesperson for Ukbetting told sportbusiness.com.
A few weeks ago, Eric Semel, son of Terry Semel, chairman and chief executive of Yahoo! Inc set up Ukbetting to buy UKbetting.com, the online gaming division of Enic, the media and leisure group which is the majority stakeholder in English soccer club Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth £6m ($8.5m/B9.7m).
The deal with Enic was further evidence that the UK is becoming the preferred location for the online gaming industry following the government’s gaming review last month that indicated that the restrictive gaming laws would be abolished. The review also suggests legalising all forms of online gambling, which would make Britain one of the few countries to allow it. Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the Exchequer is also wooing online sports betting sites with a tax break, hoping they will set up in Britain instead of places such as the Caribbean or Gibraltar.
Sportal’s London-based parent almost went out of business until a $10million (B11.30m) rescue package by venture capitalist 3i and Japanese securities firm Nomura saved the company at the beginning of this month.
Eric Semel was unavailable for comment when sportbusiness.com tried to contact him.
ukbetting, the online bookmaker that made its debut on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) last week, has signed a deal with troubled sports internet company Sportal for an undisclosed sum.
