SBOBET

Sports Bookie Online, Inc.
Type Private Limited
Founded 2004
Area served International
Key people Bill Mummery (Executive Director)
Industry Gambling
Products Sports betting, Online casino
Parent Celton Manx Limited
Website http://www.sbobet.com/
Type of site Online gambling
Available in Multilingual

SBOBET.com is an online bookmaker. The website has operations in Asia licensed by the Philippines[1] and operations in Europe licensed by the Isle of Man[2] to operate as an international sports bookmaker. The company offers betting on all major sports in multiple languages.

In February 2009, the Isle of Man based operations of SBOBET became the first operator licensed in Isle of Man to be granted approval to launch a live dealer casino from the island.[3]

In October 2014, SBOBET has launched the new financial betting sector under the new partnership with TRADOLOGIC. The financial binary products were launched under both Isle of Man OGRA license and Philippines CEZA-First Cagayan license.[4]

Sponsorship

SBOBET was the shirt sponsor of West Ham United.[5] up until the end of 2012-2013 season. They were also the shirt sponsor of Cardiff City for 2010-2011 season.[6] In October 2009, due to concerns raised by representatives of the Premier League about exposing youth to gambling, SBOBET replaced their logo on all Cardiff City youth academy team shirts with that of the Ty Hafan Children's Hospice.[7]

Celton Manx, operator of SBOBET, announced in August 2013 its Asian Betting Partnership agreements with five Premier League teams, becoming the official Asian betting partner of Swansea City A.F.C., West Ham United F.C., Southampton F.C., Hull City A.F.C. and Norwich City F.C. for the 2013-14 season.[8]

SBOBET was also the title sponsors for the first Soccerex Asian Forum held in Singapore.[9]

Awards

At the annual EGR Awards organized by eGaming Review Magazine, SBOBET was awarded the "Asian Operator of the Year" award for year 2009 and 2010.[10][11] SBOBET ranks 11th on the list of Power 50 companies in eGaming Review's 2011 ranking of the 50 most influential operators.

Controversy

In October 2008, SBOBET was asked to turn over any evidence they might have on the possible match fixing scandal in The Football Association (FA) championship between Norwich City and Derby County. SBOBET denied the FA's request, deeming it was "excessive" and would be a breach of customer privacy[12] Derby County won the game 2–1. In the end, the FA found no evidence that match fixing had taken place.[13]

On 24 September 2009, two Bulgarian news agencies Novinite.com and 24 Chasa Daily published articles that wrongly suggested that SBOBET was responsible for fixing the football match between Levski and CSKA Sofia. The two agencies subsequently published correction articles, stating that SBOBET was not involved in any match-fixing scams, and apologized to SBOBET for publishing the untrue information.[14][15]

In October 2009, representatives of the Premier League criticised 188BET and SBOBET for offering live betting on academy football games, maintaining that children and youth activities should not be exposed by international gambling organisations.[16] Both bookmakers subsequently suspended betting on academy games and expressed their intention to seek clarification from the Premier League and the Professional Footballers' Association about which football markets they should be allowed to offer.[17]

In October 2014, Singapore Parliament passed the Remote Gambling Bill to ban the entire spectrum of remote gambling, including internet, telephone, interactive television, radio and any other communication technology.[18] The bill will be effective to individual gamblers, facilitators, runners and operators. Although the new law will come into operation from 2 February 2015, SBOBET has a clear policy not to take bets from countries where making or accepting bets is illegal. New account from Singapore IP address is not accepted and there is no Singapore in the drop-down list in the sign-up page. The accounts will be closed from 1 February 2015, which will comply with the new law. With effect from 12 February 2015, access to the SBOBET is blocked.[19]

Notes

  1. ↑ First Cagayan: Operators
  2. ↑ Licensees on the Isle of Man Isle of Man Government
  3. ↑ "Manx on e-Gaming Winning Streak". OffshoreNet. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  4. ↑ "TRADOLOGIC Powers Leading Sportsbook Operator SBOBET". TRADOLOGIC. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "West Ham unveil new shirt sponsor SBOBET". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  6. ↑ Cardiff City announce SBOBET Sponsor deal, Brands in Football, 29 September 2008, accessed 1 October 2009
  7. ↑ "Ty Hafan scores with Cardiff City". Wales Online. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  8. ↑ Five Prominent Premier League Teams Forge Partnership with SBOBET, SBOBET BETimes, 26 August 2013, accessed 16 September 2013
  9. ↑ "Global betting giant secures title sponsorship of the Soccerex Asian Forum". Fcbusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  10. ↑ The EGR Awards Winners 2009, eGaming Review, 1 December 2009, accessed 9 December 2009.
  11. ↑ SBOBET celebrates award success, Isle-News, 7 December 2010, accessed 7 December 2010.
  12. ↑ "FA match-fixing inquiry hits wall of silence". TheGuardian. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  13. ↑ Match-fixing inquiry closed by FA, BBC News, 5 December 2008, accessed 14 March 2009
  14. ↑ "Correction: SBOBET.com Not Responsible for Fixing Bulgarian Football Match". novinite.com. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  15. ↑ "SBOBET is not responsible for adjusting the football game". 24chasa.bg. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  16. ↑ White, Duncan (17 October 2009). "Premier League fears corruption after 188bet and SBOBET offers betting on teenagers". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  17. ↑ White, Duncan (24 October 2009). "Premier League and PFA pressure forces bookmakers to end betting on youth football". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  18. ↑ Lau, Kok Keng (September 2014). "New Legal Framework To Regulate Remote Gambling In Singapore". Singapore: Rajah & Tann Asia. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  19. ↑ Neo, Chain Chin (15 October 2014). "Online gaming firms start shutting S’pore accounts". Singapore: Todayonline.com. Retrieved 21 October 2014.

External links