This story is sponsored by BetfairBetting exchange operator Betfair has confirmed it is on schedule to launch its long-awaited fixed-odds sports betting platform ahead of next month’s European Football Championships.
Betfair, that once staged a Death of the Bookmaker funeral procession through the City of London with the bookmaker represented by the coffin, said in December that it planned to launch a conventional sportsbook in time for this year’s biggest online betting event.
The betting exchange leaked the news to the Telegraph over the weekend that its new fixed-odds sports offering, overseen by a Dublin-based trading team headed up by former Ladbrokes sports trading product manager Craig Mucklow, was on track to launch ahead of the tournament which kicks off in Ukraine and Poland on 8 June.
The operator announced the move into fixed-odds sports betting last year aimed at capturing the 30% of the sportsbook wallet its 900,000 active customers currently spend elsewhere due to Betfair’s inability to offer a full range of ante-post and in-play bets using its core betting exchange.
Betfair customers will be able to switch easily between the exchange and the new sportsbook platform, developed with West London-based gambling software provider Openbet, which also powers the sports betting platforms belonging to many of the leading UK-facing operators, including Ladbrokes, William Hill and Paddy Power.
David Loveday, OpenBet’s chief executive, said: “We think this will help Betfair penetrate new markets.”
