| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Intellectual Property Licensing |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder(s) | Calvin Ayre |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Calvin Ayre, Founder |
| Products | Online gambling Online gaming Beverage Internet Music |
| Employees | 1,000+ |
| Website | www.bodogbrand.com |
Bodog is an online entertainment brand launched in 1994 by Calvin Ayre.
Originally the company traded at (www.bodog.com) but the brand was later divested and intellectual property rights were assigned to and consolidated in BodogBrand.com. The trademark and brand has been subsequently licensed to a series of organizations worldwide.
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BodogBrand.com is an intellectual property licensing enterprise, licensing the rights to other Bodog entities. Bodog was founded by Calvin Ayre and he has described the BodogBrand.com licensing model as “not unlike the Virgin-branded venture capital organization founded by Richard Branson”.[1]
The Bodog brand is largely focused on the online gambling industry, notwithstanding attempts to license the brand into the television, music and event production spaces, which have been largely unsuccessful. In an effort to promote the Bodog brand further, Bodog Europe's CEO, Patrik Selin, signed a deal with English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion, to become new official club sponsor for the next two seasons, from July 1st 2011.WBA Sponsorship
In March, 2009 BodogBrand.com announced the finalization of an exclusive Asian brand license for online gaming with Haydock Sports. Haydock Sports had been operating in Asia since 2006 under the authority of an Interactive Gaming License issued by First Cagayan pursuant the laws of the Republic of the Philippines. Haydock subsequently rebranded its online gaming website www.9play.com to www.bodog88.com, offering sportsbook and casino products in numerous languages to the Asian market.
The Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG) is a private online gambling company that formerly operated the Bodog-branded website www.bodog.eu. The Bodog brand was licensed by BodogBrand.com to the MMGG after the original Bodog gaming organization withdrew from the United States market following the passsage of the SAFE Port Act in 2006 [2]. According to a 2009 interview with CEO Alwyn Morris, following the passage of anti-online gambling legislation by the U.S. Congress in 2006, the original, Antigua-based Bodog gaming enterprise resolved to withdraw from the U.S. market. The MMGG then approached BodogBrand.com and negotiated an exclusive license to use the brand for the purposes of marketing the MMGG's online gaming services within that region. A private company, the MMGG is headquartered in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake in Quebec, Canada – part of the seven communities that make up the Mohawk Nation. The MMGG operates pursuant to a remote gaming license issued by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and is authorized by that license to offer gaming services worldwide.
While MMGG originally operated from the domain name Bodog.com; however, on May 23, 2011 the group announced its intention to allow its license agreement with BodogBrand.com for the Bodog.com domain to expire and that it had migrated its services to www.Bodog.eu. Industry media speculated that the transition to the new domain was a preemptive decision in the face of a round of domain name seizures by the US Department of Justice in early 2011.[3]
In July, 2011, Bodog Brand issued a press release announcing that the brand license arrangement with the MMGG would be terminated effective December 31, 2011.[4] On December 14, 2011, the MMGG announced that it would no longer operate any Bodog-branded websites and transitioned all customers to its new site.[5][6]
The MMGG continues to operate, under the address www.bovada.lv, pursuant to a remote gaming license issued by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and is authorized by that license to offer gaming services worldwide.
Bodog Fight was a mixed martial arts and event production enterprise. The brand was licensed to a Canadian events production licensee in 2006, which produced a television series of the same name, which aired on The Score Television Network, Ion Television, and The Fight Network. Each episode followed two fighters in their training and ended with a bout between the two fighters. Bodog Fight also produced pay-per-view events which featured top-ranked fighters including Fedor Emelianenko, Aleksander Emelianenko and Matt Lindland. Bodog Fight ceased operations in 2008 .[1]
In September of 2009, BodogBrand.com announced a fourth online gaming brand license arrangement with Patrik Selin, former CEO of the Ongame Poker Network. Selin indicates that he has acquired the source code to the proprietary poker product and commitments from Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, Bodog Europe and Haydock to join the Bodog Network and provide a liquidity base upon the launch of the network.[7]
The Bodog Poker Network has changed its business model to attract losing players and dispell winning players in order to generate more profit from rake.[8]
On May 14, 2011, Bodog Poker signed Tatjana Pašalić, European poker player and commentator, to become a member of "Team Bodog".[9]
At the time of his victory, 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Jamie Gold was also a member of Team Bodog, but that business relationship ended on January 25, 2007.[10] Team Bodog poker player Matt McCullough finished third at the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event taking home £381,910 ($766,674 US).[11]
In 2011, BodogBrand.com announced a brand license agreement with Bodog Coffee, a food and beverage start-up that owns the national distribution rights to Illy coffee and coffee technology in the Philippines.
The Bodog Coffee venture had been discussed by BodogBrand.com founder Calvin Ayre two years previously during an interview with eGaming Review Magazine, during which Ayre indicated that the coffee venture could be a Starbucks-like model combining Bodog-branded kiosks and shop fronts and a Bodog-branded coffee line[12].
In July, 2011, BodogBrand.com announced that its latest brand licensee - Bodog UK - had been granted Remote and Non-Remote Gaming Licenses from the UK Gambling Commission Bodog UK's brand license is reported to be limited to the United Kingdom and its online gambling website www.bodog.co.uk will be restricted to UK residents. Bodog UK is led by Bodog Europe CEO Patrik Selin.[13]