Betfair: where did it all go wrong?

Dan Taylor
January 18, 2010
5 Comments
Betting as it shouldn't be

Betting as it shouldn't be

When Betfair first launched in 1999 they were a breath of fresh air to sports betting. No longer was the punter slave to restrictive margins and antepost markets. Edward Wray and Andrew Black had given rise to the dawning of a new era of in-running betting, person-to-person wagering and excellent value.

But where is that value today? Despite being worth more than the average GNP of Angola and seemingly recruiting for new highly paid positions in their labyrinthine organization on a daily basis, they are investing in little that is of any use to their customers.

In a bid to drum up new business for their football coupons the Hammersmith-based betting exchange has just launched a marketing campaign featuring Andy Gray. But why? Everyone knows that the problem with Betfair’s football multiples are that the prices are about 20% smaller than they are on the exchange. Sound familiar? They’ll be painting pots black next.

Betfair seem to have entered the realm of developing new products for the sake of it. Rather than improving the user experience, they have taken to adding layer upon layer of fluff. Rather like this writer. Why can’t they tell the difference between quality and quantity? As I’ve often said about Keira Knightley, less is more. More or less.

But when you try and get to a market other than football or racing quickly you have to click more times than a bubble wrap addict opening a 180-piece dinner service set.

Come to think of it, betting on the football and racing isn‘t exactly shelling peas. And why in the name of long-shot winners do they insist on displaying the message, “Warning: you have entered odds greater than 99”. “Yes, I know I have.” you want to cry. It’s like Chris Tarrant trying to talk a contestant out of his final answer on Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire. When I back a 100/1 shot with a traditional bookmaker they don’t come over to me and say “What do you think you’re doing? There’s a perfectly reasonable 7/4 shot you should be backing. Leave that rag alone.” No, they don’t. No.

Customer experience aside, there is a smug and pompous arrogance oozing from every pore like their facile pink and blue children’s colour scheme. Come on someone else! Come on and challenge them! Give them a run for their money. Get rid of those ridiculous cartoon characters that actually define the management board rather than a marketing campaign that has gone on for far too long.

I hanker for their early days, when innovation was still a by-word for Betfair. Even short-lived ideas like Betfair Bob was streets ahead of anything they do now. Betfair Bob was a marketing campaign based around the exploits of a cartoon character drawn by the Punch cartoonist Bill Stott – and is sorely missed. At least there was a simple honesty to the character.

But then the suits from the mobile phone companies got involved. Which is ironic, given that Betfair’s mobile phone platform won’t work on my HTC Hero.

It’s all simply too annoying for the layman – or the backer. But of course – until there is realistic and viable competition to them – we are stuck with them. Betfair indeed. BetUnfair, more like.

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Tags: Article, Betfair, internet betting exchanges
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  • Mobi-Gamer

    “But then the suits from the mobile phone companies got involved. Which is ironic, given that Betfair’s mobile phone platform won’t work on my HTC Hero.”….
    You should try Betfair Lite – works excellently, as does iPhone.Betfair.com on the native browser.

  • Terry May

    What's the point of this article? It sounds like it's written by someone really bitter with a chip on their shoulder. “BetUnfair”. Genius – I bet your the first person to ever think of that extremely funny play on words… well, apart from every other tedious betting forum bore since 2001, the first time I read it. There've been people boring anyone within ranting distance ever since then, reminiscing like drooling Peter Allis clones about a nostalgic time before Betfair “sold out” by doing crazy things like offering customers things like poker (gasp!), a casino (shock!) and multiples (horror!), or worst of all advertising for customers like any other sensible business would.

    If you can't comprehend why Betfair would want to use a face familiar to any football fan in the UK to advertise football betting, and you can't understand what would happen if they offered multiples at same price as the exchange with no margin to winning customers whose bets they never restrict then you're hardly in a position to criticise their competence.

    So who are the “suits from the mobile phone companies” that have got your knickers in a twist? When was this change? The bloke running the company came as part of the 2001 merger with Flutter FFS. Why would that be a problem anyway? When Betfair launched the average mobile phone was the size of a housebrick with a monochrome screen. You'd be hard pressed to find an industry that's innovated more over the last decade than the mobile phone industry.

    There are hundreds of betting companies out there all looking for your business. If you're saying there isn't a better one for your needs than Betfair and you're stuck with them, then why aren't you ranting about the other ones? Or if it's so easy to run a successful betting operator then why don't you give it a go yourself and make a billion pounds?

    It's like someone ranting about how excited they were when Usain Bolt first emerged, then slagging him off for not breaking 9 seconds, and whining that they're stuck with him as the fastest sprinter until “realistic and viable” competition comes along. You're entitled to your opinion, but don't be surprised if people conclude you're a twat.

  • Terry May

    What's the point of this article? It sounds like it's written by someone really bitter with a chip on their shoulder. “BetUnfair”. Genius – I bet your the first person to ever think of that extremely funny play on words… well, apart from every other tedious betting forum bore since 2001, the first time I read it. There've been people boring anyone within ranting distance ever since then, reminiscing like drooling Peter Allis clones about a nostalgic time before Betfair “sold out” by doing crazy things like offering customers things like poker (gasp!), a casino (shock!) and multiples (horror!), or worst of all advertising for customers like any other sensible business would.

    If you can't comprehend why Betfair would want to use a face familiar to any football fan in the UK to advertise football betting, and you can't understand what would happen if they offered multiples at same price as the exchange with no margin to winning customers whose bets they never restrict then you're hardly in a position to criticise their competence.

    So who are the “suits from the mobile phone companies” that have got your knickers in a twist? When was this change? The bloke running the company came as part of the 2001 merger with Flutter FFS. Why would that be a problem anyway? When Betfair launched the average mobile phone was the size of a housebrick with a monochrome screen. You'd be hard pressed to find an industry that's innovated more over the last decade than the mobile phone industry.

    There are hundreds of betting companies out there all looking for your business. If you're saying there isn't a better one for your needs than Betfair and you're stuck with them, then why aren't you ranting about the other ones? Or if it's so easy to run a successful betting operator then why don't you give it a go yourself and make a billion pounds?

    It's like someone ranting about how excited they were when Usain Bolt first emerged, then slagging him off for not breaking 9 seconds, and whining that they're stuck with him as the fastest sprinter until “realistic and viable” competition comes along. You're entitled to your opinion, but don't be surprised if people conclude you're a twat.

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