Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment
36°08′33″N 5°21′31″W / 36.142633°N 5.358695°W
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
ISIN | GI000A0MV757 |
Industry | Online gaming |
Predecessor | Bwin PartyGaming |
Founded | 2011 |
Successor | Entain |
Headquarters | Suite 711, Europort, Gibraltar |
Revenue | €611.9 million (2014)[1] |
€(97.9) million (2014)[1] | |
€(94.3) million (2014)[1] | |
Website | www |
Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment was an
The company was headquartered in Gibraltar and quoted on the London Stock Exchange. PartyGaming Plc was founded in 1997 with the launch of Starluck Casino. Prior to passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 by the U.S. Congress, the firm was the world's largest online poker brand, based on cash game revenue and number of players. Its market share has fallen since then, but it remains the third largest online poker room in the world, behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.[3]
The new company became the world's largest publicly traded online gaming firm in 2010, 48.4% owned by existing PartyGaming shareholders and 51.6% by bwin shareholders. The merged company was listed on the London Stock Exchange, with joint CEOs Norbert Teufelberger and Jim Ryan.[4]
Following a protracted bidding process between
History
Party Gaming and Bwin merged on 31 March 2011. The rumors of a planned Bwin and Party merger began in November 2009, but were not confirmed until a joint statement was issued 26 August 2010.[4] In December 2010 shareholders were sent a 478-page document with details and an outline of planned merger. On 28 Jan 2011 the merger was approved by shareholders and then completed on 31 March 2011.
In October 2012, bwin announced the sale of its leading online poker network, Ongame, to
In November 2013 it was announced that bwin.party had applied for an online gaming licence for the state of New Jersey in July, and on 8 November had been awarded a transactional waiver by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement allowing it to participate in the online gaming market in the state, prior to a full licence being granted. The group launched both poker and casino games under the land-based casino licence of its New Jersey partner,
Following a protracted bidding process between
Products and services
Sports betting
Poker
The following types of games were offered at bwin
PokerRoom.com
PokerRoom.com was an
Bingo
Following the acquisition of Cashcade in 2009, bwin.party took control of a B2C portfolio of online bingo brands including Foxy Bingo, PartyBingo and Cheeky Bingo. Cashcade was the first company to promote online bingo to a mass market via television advertising and was first to develop the "free bingo" concept to attract new customers. Bwin began offering bingo at the end of December 2009 when its Italian subsidiary, Gioco Digitale, launched bingo as the first authorised Italian private online gaming operator.[15]
Casino games
bwin offered more than 100 games, ranging from classics such as roulette or blackjack to slot machines and casino tournaments. The casino has a longstanding tradition at bwin: In 2001, it was introduced as a second product, after sports betting.[16] The biggest ever casino jackpot win happened in 2014 when an individual won a little over 6 million Euros.
Soft games
bwin offered more than 60 games divided into the categories of Fortune Games, Skill Games, Mini Games and "ParaDice", as well as Backgammon. This was the product group with the biggest potential for innovation and expansion on the market.[17]
Legal Status
As the global legal framework for internet gambling is a complicated mix of laws and regulations, bwin's situation varied depending on the country concerned. Recently,
On 15 September 2006, Norbert Teufelberger and Manfred Bodner were arrested at a press conference in La Turbie, France, for allegedly breaking French gambling laws.[18] After an investigation, a judge released them three days later. When France opened their market for private online gaming in June 2010, bwin became the first operator there.
In February 2013, the
Sponsorship
Bwin recently sponsored football giants
On 16 August 2012, bwin announced it was entering into a digital partnership with Manchester United to become the club's official online gaming and betting partner.
In the past, many other top events in the international and local sports world were supported by the corporation. Bwin also sponsored the Portuguese first football league (bwinLIGA) and has been partner to clubs such as Juventus and Werder Bremen.[21]
Bwin cooperated with the International Basketball Association (FIBA) and has sponsored the European and World Basketball Championships since 2006. A second basketball sponsorship is Euroleague Basketball. Bwin's marketing and media rights agreement for Euroleague events expired in June 2014.
In the area of
In addition, Bwin organised numerous poker events both online and offline. One of the biggest regular online tournaments was the ChampionChip. Special poker tournaments like the Weekly Country Showdown or the Bwin Dailies offered a range of tournaments adjusted to country specifics and buy-in levels. Periodically, there were launched new types and variations of Sit & Go's. Also, several online qualifiers the Bwin user could qualify for offline events like the
The company faced some opposition in Europe over sponsorship of sports, especially football. In 2006, the German city of Bremen banned its top football club, Werder Bremen, from carrying the Bwin logo on its shirts.[22]
In January 2014, the company announced major sponsorship deals with the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers. The combined deals included major advertising to the fans of both teams and the creation of the Dream Seat Series, which was a series of online poker tournaments offering ticket packages to winners and other prizes to runners-up before every home game.[23]
References
- ^ a b c "Preliminary Results 2014". Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ Blitz, Roger (31 March 2011). "Gaming merger aims to outplay US rivals". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- ^ Poker Scout Online poker traffic rankings
- ^ a b "Gambling firms Partygaming and Bwin reveal merger plan". BBC News. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- ^ 4-traders (1 October 2012). "Bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plc : Sale of Ongame to Amaya Gaming Group Inc". 4-traders.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Sandle, Paul and Goodman, David ( 8 Nov 2013) Gaming group bwin.party granted New Jersey online licence Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine reuters.com
- ^ Jones, Nick (20 December 2013) PartyPoker Claims 50% of New Jersey Market pokerfuse.com
- ^ "Online betting company Bwin accepts GVC takeover bid". BBC News. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
- ^ Cook, David (5 January 2016). "It's a date: BwinParty confirms the day GVC will take the reins". Gambling Insider. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ "LSE Share cancellation announcement". Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Sport Bets Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 April 2010
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Poker Archived 21 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 April 2010
- ^ bwin Announces PokerRoom.com Shutdown, 4flush.com, 15 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
- ^ "Pokerroom Closes". Recentpoker.com. 20 February 2013. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ "Bingo". bwinparty.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Casino Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 April 2010
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Games Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 April 2010
- ^ David Gow (15 September 2006). "Online gambling bosses arrested in France". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ Bwin new sponsor of the Olympique de Marseille. Site de paris sportifs.
- ^ Bwin seal sponsorship of Portuguese Liga Cup. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Sport Marketing Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
- ^ "Werder Bremen to Appeal Betting Firm Sponsor Ban in Court". DW.DE. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ "Devils, 76ers strike sponsorship deal with gaming website partypoker.com". NJ.com. Retrieved 25 March 2015.