SEVEN OF Ireland’s biggest independent bookmakers have joined forces to launch Betpack.com, a gambling website they hope will rival the online offerings of Paddy Power and Boylesports.
The venture is backed by Dublin-based investment group Raglan Capital and its private clients. They are thought to have committed more than €1 million to the project for a significant stake in the business.
The seven bookmakers – Bambury, Hackett, John Mulholland, Terry Rogers, Pat Toolan, Track and Tully – have set up a company called Collegewood Street, which is trading as Betpack.com.
Between them, the seven bookies operate 182 betting shops in Ireland and have betting turnover of about €600 million.
The bookmakers have begun adding the Betpack.com brand to their stores in recent weeks and are promoting the service instore.
The site had a “test” launch in recent weeks, according to Jimmy Finlay of Bambury Bookmakers. “It’s up and running and we’re pleased with how it’s going,” he said. It is being run “in conjunction” with British bookmaker Stan James, according to its website.
Dominic Finlay, a nephew of Jimmy, has been installed as chief executive. It currently offers a range of sports bets and casino games. Poker will be added in the new year.
Online betting has grown rapidly in Ireland in recent years as first Paddy Power and then Boylesports launched gambling sites.
A number of betting exchanges have also been set up, including Dermot Desmond’s Betdaq and the UK-owned group Betfair.
Paddy Power launched its Irish betting website in 2000, and opened a UK one the following year. It had 180,000 active online customers at the end of 2008 and made an operating profit of €42.8 million from the web last year.
Mr Finlay said the cost of launching an online betting market had proved prohibitive to the individual independents. He believes they can still corner a profitable slice of the market.
“The independents still have a strong presence in the retail market, one that easily matches the big guns. We reckon we can translate that brand awareness and customer loyalty into supporting an online presence. There’s still ample opportunity out there,” Mr Finlay said.
Mr Finlay declined to say how much the bookmakers are investing in the project but it is believed to be several million euro.
They will have equal shareholdings but Mr Finlay, who runs 16 betting shops in Leinster, stressed the bookmakers’ retail operations would continue to be run separately. He said a revenue-sharing arrangement for the website had been agreed.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)