Latest News

BoyleSports Shows Interest in William Hill Shops in the UK

Published

3 years ago

June 22, 2021

BoyleSports Shows Interest in William Hill Shops in the UK

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Irish betting group BoyleSports has revealed that they are interested in buying some or all of William Hill’s betting shops in the UK.

William Hill’s 1400 remainder shops are being sold by Caesars Entertainment, which has acquired the group but signalled it will offload the UK business and focus on its American operation. Analysts have suggested the UK business could fetch as much as £1.5bn.

“BoyleSports would certainly be interested in acquiring some or all of William Hill’s UK shops, or indeed any other opportunity that makes sense for our business. The sale of the William Hill estate presents us with a rare opportunity to achieve the retail scale we have been targeting,” BoyleSports said in a statement.

BoyleSports has long eyed a major expansion into the UK, and as far back as 2008 made a move to buy the UK’s then state-owned Tote but lost out to BetFred.

The BoyleSports statement said: “We have made no secret of our ambition to be one of the principal operators on the UK high street and believe that our retail and digital offerings represent a best in class safe and enjoyable proposition for the betting public.

“We already have 21 shops in the UK and two in the Isle of Man, along with our 45 shops in Northern Ireland and our recently upgraded online betting site gives us a sizeable foothold in the UK retail and online markets.”

Back in January 2020, when BoyleSports acquired the NI branches, its commercial director, Conor Gray, said he would spend £4m revamping stores and investing in technology.

“We’ll give the shops a serious revamp in their technology, their screens and their look and feel, their signage, lighting and air con. It’ll be a fairly aggressive redevelopment,” he said.

“William Hill viewed Northern Ireland as non-core and, as a result of that, the shops probably didn’t get the love and attention they warranted.

“They have 1,600 retail outlets in the UK so 33 in Northern Ireland wasn’t playing to their agenda. The shops have suffered over the last number of years from lack of investment, direction, and attention. Therein lies the opportunity that we see”.

Up Next

Mamboo Games launches seamless In-Play™ advertising in partnership with Adverty

Don't Miss

Red Rake Gaming partners with The Ear Platform

Click to comment

Gambling in the USA

Nebraska’s First Permanent Casino to Open in May in Columbus

Published

30 seconds ago

April 25, 2024

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Nebraska’s first full-fledged, newly built and state-sanctioned gambling casino is slated to open in Columbus next month, marking a milestone in the state’s rollout of casino gambling.

The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission last Friday approved a target opening date of May 13 for Harrah’s Columbus.

“This is a big deal,” commission Chairman Dennis Lee said.

The state’s three other casinos are open, but in temporary facilities. According to construction schedules, all should be open by early next year.

“We’re definitely excited to open the first permanent casino in the state,” said Don Ostert, Harrah’s Columbus general manager.

The 17,000-square-foot casino floor will feature 400 slot machines and 11 live table games, including roulette and craps, Ostert said. It will feature a Brew Brothers restaurant and will offer Caesar’s sportsbook and racebook, Ostert said.

For racing fans, the complex will feature the state’s only 1-mile horse track, though racing isn’t scheduled to begin until August 16. By June, officials hope to have some horses out on the track to test the new surface.

Ostert said officials hope to draw customers from Norfolk and Grand Island, but also from Omaha and Lincoln.

Columbus Mayor James Bulkley said that, from the city’s standpoint, “we are very excited to see it get started and become part of the community.”

The developers incorporated some Columbus history into the casino, he said.

“The location where it is used to be called Wishbones, and it was a venue for years for entertainment, and so people recognize that name, and they have kept that name for the sports bar,” he said.

He expects the casino will draw from Omaha. Although driving to Columbus from downtown Omaha might take close to an hour and a half, the drive from west Omaha is more like an hour, he said.

“I can hit Elkhorn in a short hour today, which is now western Omaha,” he said.

In a few months, Omahans won’t have to leave town to visit a brand-new casino.

At Horsemen’s Park in Omaha, Warhorse Gaming officials are aiming to open their new casino in early August. It will open with 900 gaming positions, including table games and a Sweetwater Cafe.

Asia

Onlyplay Enters into Strategic Partnership with Ritchie Rabbit

Published

9 mins ago

April 25, 2024

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Onlyplay has entered into a strategic partnership with online casino and betting company Ritchie Rabbit within the Asia region.

Ritchie Rabbit is said to have “extensive expertise and deep understanding of the Asian market,” which helps Onlyplay as it seeks to expand its presence in the region.

Through this deal, Onlyplay will introduce a range of games and features designed specifically for the Asian gaming community.

Onlyplay offers a wide range of games such as instant win, slots and crash games, and will now provide games for players in Asia.

Christina Muratkina, CEO of Onlyplay, said: “It is a great pleasure for us to develop the Asian region alongside Ritchie Rabbit. We recognize the immense potential of the Asian market and are committed to delivering top-notch gaming content and experiences to players in the region. This partnership represents a significant step forward in our efforts to offer innovative and engaging games that resonate with our Asian audience.”

Eastern Europe

EGT Digital and PublicWin: A Successful Combination in Romania

Published

12 mins ago

April 25, 2024

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: < 1 minute

One more prominent betting site in the Romanian market enriched its gaming portfolio with the top-performing slots of EGT Digital. The titles of Bell Link and Clover Chance jackpots have won the hearts of the visitors to PublicWin’s site since the very beginning, currently being among their favourites.

Tsvetomira Drumeva, Head of Sales at EGT Digital, said: “We are happy that EGT Digital’s games are once again demonstrating excellent performance. We would like to thank Public Win for choosing us as one of their providers of high-quality casino games, and I believe that we will soon have the opportunity to expand our partnership with them.”

Alex Marin, COO at PublicWin, said: “EGT Digital’s titles fit perfectly into our concept of always offering to our customers fresh and attractive gaming content. The results so far show that we have made the right decision and in the near future players on our site will be able to enjoy more slot products of the Bulgarian provider.”