bwin
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bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, formerly known as Betandwin, is an Austrian
The company provides services for its subsidiaries such as marketing, finance, and administration, corporate communications, controlling, and IT services. All operational activities were managed by licensed subsidiaries. It was listed on the
History
Beginning with 12 employees in its founding in 1997, bwin was formerly known as "betandwin" until 2006. The company launched its first
Betandwin acquired Simon Bold (Gibraltar) in June 2001 and changed its name to bwin International Ltd. This relocation to Gibraltar was done to keep up with the company's main competitors, who had already moved to the British Overseas Territory.
By December 2001, Betandwin was ready to step into the online casino gaming market and did so by launching its first casino platform. Two years later, in July 2003, Betandwin introduced and launched a soft games platform known as "Balls of Fire."
In November 2004, Betandwin launched multiplayer poker. In June 2005, the group acquired betoto.com, a company that offers a fixed-odds betting service to punters around the globe, in an effort to expand its presence in the Greek market.
In December 2005, Betandwin acquired Ongame e-Solutions AB, a move consistent with the group's strategy to expand into the poker market. After the takeover, Ongame e-Solutions changed its name to Bwin Games. In 2005, Betandwin acquired global media rights outside of Germany for the Germany Football League.
In August 2006, Betandwin launched the new bwin brand. This was done after it was found that the Betandwin brand, which was described as "descriptive, high-grade, and functional", was not suited anymore for the wide assortment of entertainment offerings covered by the company, including sports betting, poker, soft games, and casino games.
In 2007, Bwin began to offer live streaming of major sports events.
In September 2009, bwin announced the acquisition of Italian poker operator Gioco Digitale, marking the company's entry into the Italian online gambling market.[4][5]
Bwin is often confused with BetWinner, but they are different bookmakers, with individual features and advantages.[6]
PartyGaming merger
On April 1, 2011, bwin and British gaming firm PartyGaming announced their merger. The new company bwin.party became the world's largest publicly traded online gaming firm, 48.4% of which was owned by existing PartyGaming shareholders and 51.6% by bwin shareholders. The merged company was listed on the London Stock Exchange, with joint CEO's Norbert Teufelberger and Jim Ryan.[7] After a takeover of bwin.party by British GVC Group, the brand bwin continues to exist as customer brand in its portfolio.
Products
The company's subsidiaries and affiliated companies offer sports betting, poker, casino games, and soft games, as well as audio and video streams on sporting events, such as the German Bundesliga. These are all provided via the Internet, and many are also available via other digital distribution channels, such as mobile phone.
Sports Betting
Poker
The following types of games are offered at bwin
Casino Games
bwin offers more than 1000+ games, ranging from classics such as roulette or blackjack to slot machines and casino tournaments. The casino has a longstanding tradition at bwin, but in 2001, it was introduced as a second product, in addition to sports betting.[10]
Soft Games
bwin offers more than 60 games divided into the categories of Fortune Games, Skill Games, Mini Games and "ParaDice", as well as Backgammon. This is the product group with the biggest potential for innovation and expansion in the market.[11]
bwin Games AB
bwin Games AB – founded in 1999 and formerly known as Ongame e-solutions AB – became part of the bwin Group following its acquisition, in March 2006, by bwin Interactive Entertainment AG.
Within the bwin Group, bwin Games AB acts as the competence centre for poker and casino games, developing products via digital distribution channels for bwin proprietarily owned brands, such as PokerRoom.com, HoldemPoker.com, eCardroom.com, PokerGaming.com, Europoker.com, and the Ongame Network partners.
PokerRoom.com
PokerRoom.com was an
Legal Issues
PokerRoom also maintains a play money only site, PokerRoom.tv, that is advertised in Canada on the boards of National Hockey League rinks, as well as on U.S. television networks like ABC.
Awards
PokerRoom has won industry awards, such as "Poker Site of the Year" from the UK Gambling Awards in 2006 and "Top Poker Software" from the Online Gambling Magazine Awards in 2005.
Shutdown
After 10 years of operation, bwin announced the closure of PokerRoom.com on April 14, 2009. Players with money still left in their accounts were encouraged to transfer their balance and play at bwin.com.[12] However, PokerRoom.com players with large "play money" accounts had to abandon those accounts when transferring to bwin.com.
Legal Status
As the global legal framework for Internet gambling is a complicated mix of laws and regulations, bwin's situation varies depending on the country concerned. For several years now, the United Kingdom and Italy have been examples of countries that have regulated their online gaming markets to the advantage of all
On 15 September 2006, Norbert Teufelberger and Manfred Bodner were arrested[13] at a press conference in La Turbie, France, due to offenses against the French gambling laws. After an investigation the judge released them on the evening of September 18, 2006.
Due to the enactment of the
On 6 March 2007, the European Court of Justice struck down Italian national gambling restrictions in the Placanica case.[15]
The EFTA Court held hearings in January 2007 to decide on the admissibility of a state monopoly for betting and gaming according to European Law. The decision of the EFTA Court will be made on 14 March 2007.[citation needed]
In February 2021, bwin ended its operations in Russia. An agreement was made with
Sponsorship
bwin sponsored football giant
In addition, bwin organised numerous online and offline poker events. One of the biggest regular online poker tournaments was the ChampionChip. Special poker tournaments, like the Weekly Country Showdown or the bwin Dailies, offered a huge range of tournaments adjusted to specific country regulations and buy-in levels. Periodically new types and variations of Sit & Go tournaments were launched. Through several online qualifying events, a bwin user could qualify for offline events like the
In 2008, bwin provided the luxury villa on bwin PokerIsland[19] as filming location for the music video of Lady Gaga's hit Poker Face. The video featured bwin branded poker equipment through a product placement campaign.[20]
The company faced some opposition in Europe over its sponsorship of sports, especially football. In 2006, Bremen banned its top football team, Sportverein Werder Bremen, from carrying the bwin logo on its shirts.[21] In November 2009, the city acted further by moving against sport stores which sold shirts from other teams, such as Milan and Real Madrid.[citation needed]
In 2017, bwin signed a three-year partnership with Italian football club Inter Milan becoming its first official betting partner.[22]
In 2019, bwin became Valencia CF's main global sponsor. The three-year agreement was made official in July 2019.[23] As of 2020 the agreement is in jeopardy with the Spanish government informing all La Liga clubs that betting sponsors will be banned from the start of the 2021-22 season.[24]
In 2020, bwin announced a three-year partnership with the
In April 2021, bwin signed a five-year partnership with Liga Portugal. As part of the deal, the Primeira Liga, Portugal's top football division, will be called Liga Portugal Bwin from July 2021 onward.[26]
In August 2021, bwin signed extended deals with German Bundesliga football clubs Borussia Dortmund, Union Berlin, and FC Köln, as well as 2. Bundesliga clubs FC St. Pauli and Dynamo Dresden.[27] As part of the deal, bwin will serve as the exclusive sports betting provider for each team. Each of the agreements will run from the 2021-22 season until the end of the 2023-24 season.
In September 2021, bwin signed a partnership with UEFA to become an Official Partner of the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference League for the 2021–24 seasons.[28]
Responsible Gaming
A dedicated
Awards
At the annual EGR Awards organised by eGaming Review magazine, bwin won the "Operator of the Year 2009" award.[30]
References
- ^ a b c d "Annual Report 2009" (PDF). bwin. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-08. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ Bwin, BetClic, Everest among first French licensees Archived September 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, egrmagazine.com, 8 June 2010, accessed 11 June 2010.
- ^ Google Finance: bwin Interactive Entertainment AG Archived December 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Bwin buys Gioco Digitale for push on new Italy market Archived September 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, egrmagazine.com, 14 September 2009, accessed 3 December 2009.
- ^ Bwin.com History aka Betandwin Archived May 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, accessed 7 April 2010.
- ^ Betwinner
- ^ "Gambling firms Partygaming and Bwin reveal merger plan". BBC News. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Sport Bets Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine accessed 9 April 2010
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Poker Archived May 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine accessed 9 April 2010
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Casino Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine accessed 9 April 2010
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Games Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine accessed 9 April 2010
- ^ Bwin Announces PokerRoom.com Shutdown Archived April 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, 4flush.com, 15 April 2009, accessed 20 April 2009.
- ^ Online gambling bosses arrested in France via the Guardian
- ^ bwin: US SAFE Port Act signed into law by President George W. Bush
- ^ EU Court Strikes Down Italian Gambling Restriction via Bloomberg
- ^ "Bwin transfers Russia player base to Parimatch after market exit". EGR. 16 February 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-02-16. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ Bwin seal sponsorship of Portuguese Liga Cup Archived May 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, accessed 8 November 2010.
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Sport Marketing Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, accessed 10 April 2010.
- ^ "bwin features in the Lady GaGa hit 'Poker Face'". bwin. March 24, 2009. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
- ^ "bwin prominently placed in Lady GaGa music video Poker Face". Aktien-Portal (in German). February 4, 2009. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
- ^ "Werder Bremen to Appeal Betting Firm Sponsor Ban in Court | Sports | Deutsche Welle | 29.10.2006". Archived from the original on 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2015-03-25. Werder Bremen to Appeal Betting Firm Sponsor Ban in Court
- ^ "Inter Milan take a punt on Bwin sponsorship". SportsPro. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "bwin becomes Valencia CF Main Global Partner". Valencia CF. 28 June 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Betting Sponsors to Be Banned in La Liga From 2021". 90min. 28 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Bwin nets sports betting partnership with Belgian Pro League". iGaming Business. 4 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Liga Portugal and Bwin establish a partnership agreement for the next 5 seasons". Liga Portugal. 16 April 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "Bwin scores extensions with German Bundesliga clubs". iGaming Business. 10 August 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "bwin becomes Official Partner of the UEFA Europa League and new UEFA Europa Conference League". UEFA. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-09-07. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
- ^ Factsheet: bwin Corporate Social Responsibility Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, accessed 10 April 2010.
- ^ Bwin crowned EGR Operator of the Year 2009 Archived July 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, egrmagazine.com, 1 December 2009, accessed 3 December 2009.