UK bookmakers that warned over illicit market had deal with offshore casinos
Summary
Three major UK bookmakers that have warned about illegal offshore gambling benefited financially from a deal between their shared business, Sports Information Services (SIS), and an unlicensed offshore casino called Santeda. This deal, revealed by leaked files, involved supplying gambling data to Santeda, which targets UK customers despite lacking proper licenses.Key Facts
- Three UK bookmakers (Ladbrokes, William Hill, and Betfred owner Fred Done) partly own SIS, a company providing gambling data and content.
- SIS signed a contract in 2022 with Santeda, an offshore casino accused of targeting vulnerable UK gamblers and fined in Spain for unlicensed operations.
- The deal allowed SIS to supply Santeda with live racing and other betting data for two years, renewing automatically unless canceled.
- The contract gave SIS a share of the money lost by gamblers using Santeda’s sites.
- The bookmakers have warned the UK government that heavy rules might push players to illegal offshore sites like Santeda.
- The bookmakers did not know about the deal at the time due to company rules preventing access to competitor-sensitive info.
- Since the deal started, SIS shareholders, including these bookmakers, received at least £37 million in dividends, with Ladbrokes getting about £8.5 million.
- SIS said it would not confirm if the contract still exists. Licensed companies dispute dealing with Santeda because it targets UK players without proper permission.
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