Betfair to Sponsor the 2013 World Snooker Championship; Rank Group CEO Gets Angry With UK Politicians

betfair-2013-world-snooker-championship

betfair-2013-world-snooker-championshipWith revenue dipping 4% to £90.5m in its fiscal year quarter ending Jan 31, and departures from the shores of foreign countries more numerous than Phileas Fogg, Betfair CEO Breon Corcoran told the world that they were going to refocus on Betfair’s “sustainable” home markets in the UK & Ireland.

Corcoran’s vision has started to take shape with the recent acquisition of Blue Square Bet, from Rank Group, and the announcement that they will take over as the sponsors for the 2013 World Snooker Championships when the action kicks off in earnest on 20th April.

The announcement comes after much successor-speculation following the end of the four-year deal inked by BETFRED.com back in 2009. During BETFRED’s reign John Higgins (twice), Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan took the titles that every man in snooker wants to own.

Chairmain of the World Snooker Championship, Barry Hearn told the Mail Online: “Betfair has shown tremendous support for our events this season and the exposure they have already gained for their brand on a worldwide scale has been phenomenal. The World Championship is guaranteed at least 120 hours of coverage from the BBC and a global audience of 360 million.”

Barry Orr, Betfair spokesperson added: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with World Snooker, and the opportunity to further increase our commitment to the sport through title sponsorship of this marquee event is an exciting prospect.”

The bookies can’t separate the quartet of Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and the reigning champion O’Sullivan, who returns from exile to feature in only his second tournament since he won the famous trophy back in May of last year.

Rank Group CEO directs his anger at the UK Politicians

After shaking hands with Breon Corcoran on the Blue Square deal, Rank Group supremo, Ian Burke, has taken a shot across the bows of the UK politicians for what he believes to be thoughtless statements that damage the business he excels in.

His beef seems to be targeted at the UK Politicians constant use of the terms such as ‘casino banking’ when referring to failures in the banking sector. Burke believes that the constant use of the slandering references to one of the booming business in the UK & Ireland makes it more difficult to pass gambling legislation through the arm of the legal system.

With online gambling showing an 80% growth, in the UK, in just five years, it’s high time that the policitians woke up and smelt the coffee; instead of sipping on their fragile china cups of tea.