A commercial tie-up between software suppliers and the online gaming firm Sportingbet seems set to make in-play betting - on the times of goals scored, half-time scores, and the ultimate outcome of any match - available to punters throughout Europe just in time for the kick-off of the biggest global sporting of every four years: the football World Cup.
Global Interactive Gaming (GIG) has linked up with Interactive Sports, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sportingbet, in a deal which could earn massive profits from online betting during the World Cup football tournament in June.
Under the agreement, GIG, itself owned by New Jesrsey-based Interactive Systems Worldwide (ISW), will provide software and services for Sportingbet's play-by-play betting service.
While Sportingbet will accept the bets, GIG will manage the wagering markets, including their creation, the setting of initial odds and subsequent odds changes, their closing and eventual settlement. In return, GIG will receive a share from the revenue play-by-play service.
Bernard Albanese, the president of ISWI, said: "We are very pleased to have entered into this agreement with Sportingbet. To receive this level of endorsement by them, one of the world's largest online betting and gaming groups, is very gratifying. We are optimistic that this enhanced product, offered throughout Europe through more than 20 websites, will benefit both companies."
Kenny Alexander, the managing director of Sportingbet Europe, said: "This service will enhance our live betting service by significantly increasing our customers' betting opportunities."
The system be accessible in multiple languages, and bets will be accepted in several currencies.
The agreement is for an initial 18 months, and as well as the upcoming World Cup, Sportingbet Europe will make the system available for bets on cricket, golf, tennis, rugby, basketball, NFL, snooker and darts matches.
But it's the World Cup where the real money will be made this year, and whichever country eventually picks up the coveted trophy, bookmakers all over the globe stand to make mega-profits. The 2006 World Cup is likely to be regarded as the first in which online betting has been a real, widespread option for punters.According to Ladbrokes, the bookmaker, the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea was a world record for the industry in terms of both quantity and value for bets placed on a single event.
Indeed, with well over a month to go before the first ball is even kicked, Paddy Power, another leading bookmaker, said that £10 million-worth of bets have already been placed on the tournament in Britain alone.
Times Online
