Bwin sports betting sports Media Man Int

Bwin - an overview

Profiles

bwin is big time sports, real action and more. We do not just talk about fun and excitement, we actually make it happen. What’s more: you create the excitement with us. No matter whether you’re a pro or beginner – everyone can join in.

We are the world number one in online gaming. How about some numbers? We offer up to 30,000 bets daily with betting action in more than 90 sports – that’s a record, too.

Enjoy gripping entertainment online: thrilling sports bets with a unique live feeling – get closer to the action than ever before. And then there's the casino atmosphere at its finest; live poker and numerous games for that short break in-between. Join bwin to get away from your daily routine and enter a world full of emotions.

Great ideas can capture the attention of the world. But only real passion can capture the hearts of millions. With Sports bets, Poker, Casino and Games at bwin, you always get both. That is the secret of our success.

Marketing:

Sustaining and also consolidating those positions requires continuous marketing support and investment. As well as continuing to innovate our product suite, we must also embrace the full range of traditional marketing tools as well as the latest methods and channels including social media, recommendation engines and mobile.

Our revenue model dictates that acquiring, retaining and reactivating customers are all central to our marketing efforts. We seek to employ a balanced approach so that we don’t become unduly exposed to any particular channel or provider. Online customer acquisition strategies include web-based advertising, affiliate programmes, referrals and search engines as well as the extensive use of a broad range of player incentives. Our offline marketing methods include advertising through mass media channels (TV, print and outdoor), direct mail, sponsorships and referrals.

Signature sponsorships have always been a key aspect of our sports marketing programme and reflect our close connection with the world of sport. bwin has a long association with European football and in 2013 we evolved our activity to focus on innovative digital partnerships in our key European markets, signing new deals with Juventus Turin in Italy, RSC Anderlecht in Belgium and Olympique de Marseille in France. These partnerships complemented existing digital relationships with Manchester United, Real Madrid and FC Bayern Munich. Away from football, bwin has a longstanding association with MotoGP as well as basketball with partnerships in place with Euroleague Basketball, the International Basketball Federation (‘FIBA’) European and World Championships.

The digital sponsorship approach is centred on the creation of online content and web, mobile and social integration; in this way the brand can talk to and engage with our core target audience. As an online business, it is key for our brands to be integrated into each partner’s online and digital space. Additionally, we seek to use the partnerships to create unique content and genuine ‘money-can’t-buy’ experiences that appeal to customers. In this way we aim to reach out to sports fans and differentiate our brands from competitors by offering an unparalleled range of online and real world offers.

In 2014, we adopted the digital sponsorship approach in the US, signing partnerships between partypoker and the New Jersey Devils NHL team and the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team as well as the home of both sports, the Prudential Center in New Jersey. These sponsorships which signified the return of partypoker to the New Jersey market were also pioneering, marking the first time an online gaming brand has partnered with a professional sports team in the US.

Additionally, we own and have developed a number of specialist land-based events and created television programming around them such as the World Poker Tour and Premier League Poker. We have more than 600 hours of branded poker programming we can use to support brand awareness and attract new customers in key markets.

We employ a variety of sponsorship and event opportunities to to promote our brands and products on both an international and localised basis. Finally, player loyalty schemes are an important part of our market efforts. They have proved to be very successful with regards to retaining sports betting, poker and casino customers. In addition to our loyalty programmes, a broad range of incentives, including bonuses, are also used to attract, retain and reactive customers.

History:

Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG (WBAG: BWIN), formerly Betandwin.com (until 2006), is an Austrian based online gaming company. The group operates under international and regional licences in countries like Gibraltar, the Amerindian reserve of Kahnawake (Canada), Belize and Germany, Italy, Mexico, Croatia, Austria and the United Kingdom. The Group offers sports betting, poker, casino games and soft games with most revenue coming from poker and sportsbetting. Competence centres are located in Vienna, Austria, Stockholm, Sweden and Gibraltar.

The parent company, bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since March 2000. The Company provides services for its subsidiaries such as marketing, finance and administration, corporate communications, controlling and IT services. All operational activities are managed by licensed subsidiaries.

On the 15 September 2006, Norbert Teufelberger and Manfred Bodner were surprisingly arrested at a press conference in La Turbie, France, due to offenses against the French gambling laws. After an investigation the judge released them on the evening of September 18, 2006.

As of October 2006, bwin no longer takes bets from United States players, due to the signing of the Safe Port Act.

On 6 March 2007 the European Court of Justice struck down Italian national gambling restrictions in the Placanica case.

The EFTA Court held hearings in January 2007 to decide on the admissibility of a state monopoly for betting and gaming according to European Law. The decision of the EFTA Court will be made on 14 March 2007.

Products

The company’s subsidiaries and affiliated companies offer sports betting, poker, casino games and soft games, as well as audio and video streams on sporting events such as the German Bundesliga. These are all provided via the Internet, and many are also available via other digital distribution channels, such as mobile phone.

bwin Games AB

bwin Games AB - founded in 1999 and formerly known as Ongame e-solutions AB - became part of the bwin Group following its acquisition, in March 2006, by bwin Interactive Entertainment AG.

Within the bwin Group, bwin Games AB acts as the competence centre for poker and casino games, developing products via digital distribution channels for bwin proprietarily owned brands, such as PokerRoom.com, HoldemPoker.com, eCardroom.com, PokerGaming.com, Europoker.com and the Ongame Network partners.

PokerRoom.com

PokerRoom.com is an online poker cardroom founded in 1999. Licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, PokerRoom offers both play and real money formats. Tournaments and ring games are available in both web-browser and download client platforms, with support for both Macintosh and Linux. PokerRoom was one of the first online poker sites to provide multi-language support, today it caters for Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian and Swedish speakers, these languages are accessed via 'regional sites' many of them showing local sponsoring for the selected region.

Legal Issues

PokerRoom also maintains a play money only site, PokerRoom.tv, that is advertised in Canada on the boards of NHL rinks, as well as on US television networks like ABC.

Awards

PokerRoom has won industry awards such as Poker Site of the Year from the UK Gambling Awards in 2006 and Top Poker Software from the Online Gambling Magazine Awards in 2005.

Sponsorship

Among bwins sponsoring activities, the group is a partner of leading European sports.

The traditional Spanish club FC Barcelona has been a bwin partner for many years. In Italy, a cooperation relationship is maintained with the record-holding team, Juventus Turin. Also in the package is the first Portuguese football league, which has been known as the bwinLIGA since 2005/06. And footballers of the team, FC Slovan Liberec, wear the bwin logo on their team jerseys as well. Additionally, bwin sponsors the Italian football club A.C. Milan, and the team members wear the company logo on the team jersey. In June 2007, bwin became main sponsor of Real Madrid.

Sponsoring contracts have been made with other sports such as the MotoGP World Championship, the International Basketball Association (FIBA), the Kite Surf Pro Tour in Tarifa (Spain), as well as many other top events in the international and local sports world. (Credit: Wikipedia).

Profiles