Betfair have accounted their 13% revenue growth in their quarter one financial results to their sports involvement.

Betfair registered £91.6 million up from £80.8m the last quarter. Betfair’s UK performance produced a very strong 23% increase.

Stephen Morana, Betfair’s Chief Financial Officer, commented: “Revenue growth in the first quarter was primarily driven by Euro 2012, improved monetisation of exchange activity, continued mobile growth and a recovery in risk-sports margins. The resulting growth was partially offset by the impact of regulation.

“The UK, our largest market, was our strongest performing region, driven by the continued success of the “Don’t Settle for Less” advertising campaign and a great summer of sport.

“Mobile betting goes from strength to strength, reflecting increasing smartphone penetration, product enhancements and customer familiarity. Mobile usage and revenues doubled and half of all customers in the UK and Ireland placed a mobile bet in the first quarter. We have also continued to deliver important new product upgrades in recent months, including new Android and iPad apps that include our popular Cash Out functionality.

“Change in the regulatory environment in which we operate has brought challenges in the form of product restrictions and higher levels of taxation. This has recently been illustrated in Spain and Cyprus, which have sought to restrict the products that operators can offer, and in Germany, where a turnover tax has been implemented that purports to cover all sports betting.

“Like-for-like net gaming revenue, adjusting for the impact of regulation, was marginally higher in Q2 to date compared to the same period last year. A slower start to the football season and reduced interest in other sports during the Olympics resulted in slower revenue growth in August. After a strong Q1, this leaves year to date revenues in line with our expectations.

“Finally, I have informed the Board that I intend to step down once a successor in the CFO role has been identified. It’s been a very difficult decision to make but I feel the time is now right, for both me and the company, to move on. I have been incredibly fortunate to have been part of the Betfair success story over the past 10 years and am immensely proud of our achievements. Betfair is entering into a new era under the leadership of Breon Corcoran and I believe the company has a very bright future ahead of it.”

Gerald Corbett, Betfair’s Chairman, said today: “I would like to formally welcome Breon to the company. I’m confident he is going to make a difference and I look forward to working with him to help Betfair realise its potential. In his first few weeks he has been getting to know the business, and our people, and will update the market with his plans in due course.

“We understand why, after ten years, Stephen would like to start thinking about the next stage of his career and hand the reins over to a new CFO. On behalf of the whole company I would like to convey our immense gratitude to Stephen for the work he has put in to make the business the success it is today, and in particular, the excellent job he did as Interim CEO. Stephen will continue in his current position until we find his successor and we will begin the search process immediately.”

Vor dem Bundesliga-Auftakt debattierten Berti Vogts und Franz Beckenbauer sowie Harald Schmidt, Helmut Sandrock (DFB-Generalsekretär) und Hans Joachim Watzke (Geschäftsführer Borussia Dortmund) bei Sky90 über die Favoriten auf den Meistertitel und das Gewaltproblem in deutschen Stadien.

Sky Experte Franz Beckenbauer…

…über die Gewaltprobleme in deutschen Stadien: “Ich weiß nicht, ob das so dramatisch ist. Ich würde die, die jetzt randalieren und mit Gewaltbereitschaft ins Stadion gehen, nicht als Fans bezeichnen. Ein Fan ist nicht gewaltbereit, der feuert seine Mannschaft an, steht lautstark hinter seinem Team. Die anderen sind Zerstörer, die muss man in den Griff bekommen. Wenn alles nichts nutzt, dann musst du halt auch die Stehplätze abschaffen. Dann geht’s nicht anders. Aber man muss diese Situation in den Griff bekommen.”

Helmut Sandrock (Generalsekretär DFB)…

…über die Gewaltprobleme in deutschen Stadien: “Wir haben eine Zunahme der Intensität an Vorfällen, auch außerhalb der Stadien – und gerade da sind wir auf Polizeijustiz angewiesen. Ich glaube, dass dieser Schritt, den wir in Berlin gesetzt haben, ein klares Zeichen an die Fanszenen war. Wir wollten klarmachen wogegen wir sind: Gegen Gewalt im Stadion, auch gegen Pyrotechnik. Und wir müssen auch unsere Instrumente überprüfen. Ob das Einlasskontrollen sind oder Stadionverbot, auch das Thema Ticketing können wir noch verbessern.”

…über die Stehplatz-Diskussion: “Ich bin ganz bei Reinhard Rauball und dafür stehen auch DFB und Vereine. Stehplätze wollen wir nicht in die Diskussion bringen, sie sind ein Teil der Fankultur. Aber zu Kultur gehört keine Gewalt und Pyrotechnik. Und wenn wir diese Differenzierung hinkriegen, wird das Thema Stehplätze, auch im Kontext der billigen Eintrittskarten, kein Thema sein. Wir werden dafür kämpfen. Aber wir brauchen auch die 99 Prozent der friedfertigen Fans, die mithelfen müssen, genau dieses andere Prozent, das stören will, aus dem Stadion zu verbannen, denn die haben im Stadion nichts zu suchen.”

Hans-Joachim Watzke (Geschäftsführer Borussia Dortmund)…

…über den Ansatz, aus Sicherheitsgründen, nur noch personalisierte Tickets zuzulassen: “Wenn wir die Tickets personalisieren für die Heimfans, dann müssen wir mittags um 12 Uhr anfangen, die Leute kommen zu lassen, dann haben wir Schlangen bis in die Innenstadt – wie willst du das kontrollieren? Wir wissen genau, wo die Ultra-Fans stehen, wir haben da eine Menge Möglichkeiten. Du musst das Problem dezentral lösen, das müssen die Klubs mit ihren Ultras lösen. Wir müssen uns dem Thema stellen, wir müssen viel miteinander diskutieren, wir müssen aber auch klar machen, es gibt zwei Dinge, über die wir nicht diskutieren: Es gibt keine Gewalt und keine Pyrotechnik!”

U.K. ministers have decided to boycott the opening stages of the Euro 2012 football championships due to concerns about human rights in Ukraine.

The European Union has called for opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to be freed from prison, after she was jailed for seven years over a gas accord she signed with Russia in 2009, when she was premier. EU commissioners and Swedish and Dutch officials have also said they’ll boycott the tournament, which is being co-hosted with Poland.

“The government fully supports England’s participation in Euro 2012,” the British Foreign Office said in an e-mailed statement today. “No ministers will be attending group games at Euro 2012. We are keeping attendance at later stages of the tournament under review in the light of ministers’ busy schedules ahead of the Olympics and widespread concerns about selective justice and the rule of law in Ukraine.”

England plays all its three group matches in the tournament, which starts tomorrow, in Ukraine. The first game is against France in Donetsk on June 11.

A major partnership has been agreed between the US Ski Team and knitted sweater manufacturer Neve Designs to run until 2019, the team have announced.

The partnership will therefore encompass the next two Winter Olympic Games, beginning with Sochi in 2014.

Neve will be the official sweater of the team as part of its desire to break into the European market and the deal gives Neve access to top US skiers including Ted Ligety and the highly marketable Lindesy Vonn and Julia Mancuso.

The US team’s chief revenue and marketing officer Andrew Judelson stated: “Neve has amazing product which is both functional and attractive to our athletes. Most importantly, though, Neve understands how to creatively merchandise around our US Ski Team brand globally.”

Neve president and chief executive Tom Irvine called the association with the team “our own call to excellence”, adding: “It pushes everyone involved to work harder and maintain uncompromising standards. This isn’t a mere marketing decision – it’s a long term strategic business direction for Neve.”

Based in Colorado, Neve – Italian for snow – has been a licensing partner of the team for nearly four years. The new deal, however, represents a major uplift on its involvement. Though it only has ten employees, the company experienced 40 per cent growth between 2009 and 2010 and now has its products in over 700 stores across North America.

The UK’s Channel 4 have agreed a deal to broadcast the upcoming BT Paralympic World Cup, which takes place in Manchester from 23rd to 28th May, extending their support to Paralympic events after becoming host broadcaster for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The announcement will provide the BT World Cup with the strongest broadcast coverage ever received on UK television for a competition which will see elite international athletes competing in events such as wheelchair basketball, athletics and swimming, while boccia and sitting volleyball will be represented for the first time.  

Channel 4 has revealed they will show a two hour live programme on 28th May, with daily highlights on 26th and 27th, and live streaming from each sport will be available on the Channel 4 website. 

Deborah Poulton, sports editor for Paralympics at Channel 4, stated: “Alongside the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the BT Paralympic World Cup is another opportunity to help increase awareness of Paralympic sport and make the British viewing public the best informed and most engaged in the world. 

“We believe the combination of online streaming and TV highlights coverage will attract new audiences to the BT Paralympic World Cup and give the event and its competitors the profile they deserve.”

Chairman of UK Athletics, Ed Warner, has conceded that it will be practically impossible to fill the Olympic Stadium post 2012 for athletics events.

UK Athletics main event is the two-day London Diamond League Grand Prix, currently held in Crystal Palace, but this draws a capacity crowd of just 17,000, under a third of the 60,000 capacity promised by West Ham’s bid which is still pending approval.

Some of the lesser meetings are likely to struggle even more to attract spectators, with the likes of the UK Championships being the next in line in terms of prestigious events, bringing a capacity crowd of around 8,000 to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium.

The success of West Ham’s bid to the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) to occupy the stadium involved a crucial commitment to 20 days of “top-class athletics” per year. Warner however, has stated: “‘Top-class’ is not a technical term in athletics as ‘first-class’ is in cricket. By ‘top-class’ we mean the two days of the Diamond League, down to championships for each major age group. Some will attract a significant paying public, others a smaller paying public. We will also be able to bid for major European and world championships.”

In defence of why having a 60,000-seat venue still makes sense for events watched by crowds in the hundreds, Warner said: “We have never argued that athletics makes the stadium commercially viable. But we want our athletes to aspire to run on the track in a facility of such quality, and the warm-up track underneath is also important. West Ham made the call that they can make the stadium work financially, and we were able to piggy-back on that.”

Additionally he attempted to allay fears that West Ham may be forced to pull the athletics track promise which was so integral to their bid, adding: “We have a commitment to an IAAF category one facility, to be maintained in the stadium, for the duration of the lease.”

English Premier League soccer giants Manchester United are set to become the first ever club in the league’s history to break the £100m (US$161.24m) mark for commercial revenue.

It has been revealed that the club’s revenue has risen up to $38.7m over the first quarter of the accounting year with media reports suggesting that the second quarter will be just as strong. The last annual figures put the club’s commercial income to $130.5m, a growth of 16 per cent.

A new ‘territory specific’ approach to commercial opportunities implemented by Ricahrd Arnold, United’s commercial director, and agreed with the Glazer family, has allowed the club to rapidly expand that area of revenue.

Chief executive David Gill said: “One of the strengths of this club compared to others is that we get income from all revenue streams.

“Our match day revenue is around 40 per cent of our overall turnover, we are part of a great competition in the Premier League that continues to grow and the commercial sector has gone up from 20 per cent to 30 per cent. They are all high margins and will continue to give us the money Sir Alex Ferguson needs to keep the club at the top.

“That will stand us in very good stead. They are all high margins and will continue to give us the money Sir Alex Ferguson needs to keep the club at the top. There is a strong desire within our great supporter base for that to happen.”

The association’s discontent comes after FIFA President Sepp Blatter appeared to make a major u-turn in the proposals to reschedule world soccer’s flagship event. Blatter had previously backed the plans to move the event to the winter months due to soaring temperatures in the Middle Eastern gulf during the tournaments regular schedule. On Monday, February 7, Blatter and FIFA revealed that the Qatar based event had been “settled for summer”.

ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge spoke after he 136-member association’s general assembly in Geneva, stating: “The time for monopolies is over. Football needs democracy and transparency.”

“ECA members agree that all clubs must be meaningfully involved in all decisions affecting club football. Now is the time for change.

In a statement, the ECA expressed its “concern on the way matters of such importance are managed by football’s world governing body” and its opposition to the “disruption” of the possibility of a winter World Cup.

The 2018 Winter Olympics Bid of PyeongChang has received further backing ahead of this year’s decision from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on who will host the quadrennial event.

Approximately US$450,000 has been donated to the Bid Committee by Hyundai Motors Group, with a message promising support until the 2018 host city decision.

The Korean Association of Newspapers (KAN), an organisation that has 47 members comprised of daily newspapers and a news agency, has also agreed a sponsorship agreement which offers PyeongChang 2018 exposure via the member media outlets for the remainder of the bid campaign.

PyeongChang 2018 chairman and CEO, Yang Ho Cho stated: “On behalf of the PyeongChang 2018 Bid Committee, I would like to express great appreciation for the committed support from the Hyundai Motor Group and KAN. Their support and the nation’s passionate backing for our bid gives us an extra boost as we prepare for the important International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission visit to PyeongChang next month.”

The 2011 European Tour will feature three new events in a season that will contain a minimum of 50 tournaments and finish in December for the first time.

The Race to Dubai starts on 9 December, 2010 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa and ends on 11 December at the Dubai World Championship.

New tournaments in Bahrain, Sicily and Malaysia punctuate the year.

The December finish in 2011 should allow following European Tour seasons to be completed in a calendar year.

European Tour chief Keith Waters said: ” The Race to Dubai will conclude in December for the first time in 2011, enabling us to introduce a schedule based on the calendar year, which has been our stated intention for some time now.

“We anticipate, therefore, that the 2012 season will commence in January that year and conclude in late November.”

The new events in 2011 are the Volvo Golf Champions at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain from 27-30 January, the Sicilian Open from 17-20 March and the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia from 17-20 November.

Wentworth will host the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, for the 31st time and 28th in succession, from 26-29 May.

Three tournaments will have new venues with the Ballantine’s Championship taking place at the Blackstone Golf Club in Seoul, the Hassan II Golf Trophy at the Golf de Palais et Golf de L’Océan, in the Moroccan town of Agadir and the Omega Mission Hills World Cup being held at the Mission Hills Resort, Hainan Island.

Waters added: “We are extremely encouraged that The 2011 Race to Dubai comprises not only many of our established tournaments in addition to some new events and venues but also three significant month-long runs in designated locations.

“We start with four weeks in South Africa then four in the Gulf and later in the year there is a similar sequence with the Iberian Peninsula Swing.”