With Betfair set to confirm that boardroom affairs are to take on a distinctly Irish flavor, the marketplace will no longer be abuzz with who will be next to take the reigns. That doesn’t mean the rest of the world won’t be speculating as to who’s next to give up their seat in the gaming CEO house of burlesque. Bodog is offering odds on who this will be. We’ve decided to look at the top five runners and riders in the race to become the next to vacate their seat or be poached to continue their gaming path elsewhere.
Richard Glynn (Ladbrokes) 4/1 favorite
It hasn’t been the best of year’s for head Lad Richard Glynn. After the 8pm.com (888.com) and SportingLads mergers both fell by the wayside, his position is precarious. He could have bitten the bullet over the failed takeover deals and will be at the mercy of the shareholders when they contemplate where exactly the company is going.
Andy McIver (Sportingbet) 6/1
On the other side of one of Glynn’s failed mergers is the head of a company that is aiming to become part of the regulation club. They still only derive 50% of net gaming revenue from regulated markets and while they are public and continue to operate in unregulated territories, his position will remain on the wrong side of uncertain.
Henrik Tjärnström (Unibet) 6/1
There’s an ongoing theme here. If you’ve been involved in a merger during your lifetime as boss then you’ll be right up there. Henrik is no exception. With 18 months under his belt the Swede has overseen a failed merger that would have created Sporting…Sportingbet. Henrik isn’t one to beat around the bush on results’ calls and said he’s seen “little sign yet of any significant impact from the closure of some US-facing competitors.”
Andy Hornby (Gala Coral) 8/1
The man that shares the name with the inventor of model train-sets might be rather perturbed at finding himself in fourth. Hornby only joined the firm back in July, many believing his sole intention in being here is to engineer the smooth transition of a management buyout. The low-lying position of the newest man on the list may have something to do with Gala having a ten-year-deal in place with Playtech. Now we all know what happens when Playtech doesn’t think it’s getting it’s own way don’t we!
Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger (Pwin) 8/1
This time we can really say we’ve saved the best for last. Apart from being by far the most entertaining Punch and Judy combination around these two are always likely to find themselves near the CEO trapdoor thanks to the fact their share price drops more often than a whore’s panties. The past year has seen the PartyGaming and Bwin merger create the “super-mega-fantastic-ginormous-gambling-behemoth” that stands before you. Norb has spent much of the year giving the finger when it comes to anything from being arrested in France to flouting similar laws in Germany. He does, however, like the sound of an American threeway.
The remaining CEOs in the betting are as follows
16/1 – Patrick Kennedy – Paddy Power
20/1 – Richard Kilsby – 888
33/1 – Fred Done – BetFred
33/1 – Ralph Topping – William Hill
33/1 – Victor Chandler
