/ THE BRIEFING / NEWS
THE SMOKING GUN
s Rumours, gossip and scandal from the dark corridors of online gaming
NEVER ENDING SAGA
The rumour mill keeps on turning as
far as Ladbrokes is concerned with
TSG learning of more unsubstantiated
takeover tittle-tattle. This month it was
the turn of 888 to join the illustrious
list of those said to be eyeing up the
beleaguered bookie – with Paddy Power,
Playtech and racing’s ‘Coolmore set’ also
linked to ‘The Magic Sign’ of late.
And it seems it may well take a
buyout of the firm in order to remove
Richard Glynn from his position.
TSG understands Glynn raised the
proverbial two fingers to his naysayers
after its recent Q1 results – which by
the way showed like-for-like online
revenues had dipped 18% year-onyear. Gathering his staff together for
a pep talk, Glynn offered a defiant
“f**k ‘em” message to his critics, which
considering the likelihood the room
was full of doubters, it may have done
little to raise company moral.
WHO WILL B-WIN?
Bwin.party’s management and its
activist investor Jason Ader entered
the ring for a bruising final round in May
ahead of the firm’s AGM. The war of
words grew increasingly barbed as Ader
sought to persuade shareholders that a
board-level shake-up was needed, while
bwin.party made regular digs at Ader’s
credentials and directorial nominations.
Insiders questioned Ader’s intentions
as a major shareholder, who is also a
member of the board at Las Vegas
Sands, owned by online gambling-hater
Sheldon Adelson. Could his involvement
be aimed at disrupting bwin.party’s
US expansion plans? Sources also
suggested to TSG that two of Ader’s
board nominations were not entirely
independent, and that he had actually
worked with them in the past.
Neither parties appear ready to back
down so this one looks set to rumble
on for some time.
FINGER OF FUN
Betfred’s new ‘Have more fun with
your fingers’ marketing slogan raised
a few eyebrows when it launched in
May. The meaning of the catchphrase
becomes clear when you see the TV
ads featuring finger characters, but
having stumbled across the rejected
ideas in a bin outside Betfred HQ in
Warrington, TSG thinks it made the
right choice. We’re not sure ‘Fred
gives you a thumbs up!’ would have
lent itself to any visual concept, while
‘How many fingers do you use?’ may
not have quite captured the tone they
were going for. Although it would
certainly have given the Ladbrokes Life
‘lads’ something to talk about…
PERCENT
W W W. E G R M A G A Z I N E . C O M
BETFAIR HANDS MCDERMOTT
PRODUCT DIRECTOR ROLE
Betfair has promoted its head of
mobile Sylvie McDermott to the
newly created role of product
management director.
McDermott will assume
responsibility for product
development across all of its
divisions, including its desktop
business. She will report directly to
Betfair’s new chief operating officer
Mark Brooker, who took on the COO
job in April having been promoted
from his head of sports betting role.
WILLIAM HILL AUSTRALIA CEO
SULLIVAN DEPARTS
£18M 82% 123
The amount GTECH paid for
mobile gaming firm Probability
in a deal completed on 6 May
PEOPLE
NEWS
The year-on-year increase in
Q1 net revenues at Caesars
Interactive Entertainment
GameAccount Network’s
year-on-year revenue rise,
reported in its full-year
results
William Hill is on the hunt for a new
Australia CEO after its current boss
Michael Sullivan agreed to leave
the firm.
Speculation regarding the
former Sportingbet Australia CEO’s
departure circulated last week
when the operator confirmed talks
over the “future leadership” of its
operations in the country were
taking place.
JENS BADER LEAVES
PAYSAFECARD FOR SECURE
TRADING
Paysafecard’s former chief
commercial officer Jens Bader has
left the firm to join rival payments
supplier Secure Trading.
Bader joined Paysafecard in
October 2010 and joins Secure
Trading in a similar role as
the company plots significant
expansion across Europe and the
US, including the recruitment of
dozens of new staff.
LADBROKES GENERAL COUNSEL
STANDS DOWN
Ladbrokes general counsel and
company secretary Jonathan
Adelman has stood down from his
roles after five years at the firm.
Adelman joined Ladbrokes in
August 2008 having previously
served as group legal cou