ONCHAN, Isle of Man – April 8, 2016 – BetStars has today signed a deal with British Racing that will see one of the newest global betting brands become an Authorised Betting Partner to the British horse racing industry, in time for this week’s Grand National at Aintree.
The deal will mean that BetStars – the sports betting brand of Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA), owner of PokerStars, the world’s largest poker site – will make a voluntary contribution to British racing to help sustain the future of the sport.
The BetStars-branded sportsbook launched in January 2016 and recently added British horse racing markets to the site. The partnership with British Racing will benefit all those who work in the horse racing industry, along with race-goers and sports bettors.
BetStars’ Director of Trading, Ian Marmion, said: “As TD of BetStars and a keen race horse owner, I’m delighted that BetStars has signed to be an Authorised Betting Partner of British Racing. The birth of betting in the UK was driven by horse racing and it's important that it is given the opportunity to grow and flourish. We are proud to partner with one of the most popular and exciting sports in the world, and feel it’s important that we make our contribution as a new entrant to the sport.”
Nick Rust, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), said: “We are delighted that BetStars has agreed to become a partner of British Racing by signing as an ABP. By entering into a partnership with racing, BetStars understands the importance of British Racing to betting and gaming operators in both attracting and retaining high value customers. BetStars represents a world-renowned brand and it is exciting that it now features horse racing. We look forward to working with the brand to deliver all the benefits of being an ABP and seeing its name on British racecourses.”
PokerStars is renowned for being one of the most regulated poker sites in the world, with licenses and approvals to operate in dozens of different jurisdictions around the world. Amaya is applying the same rigorous approach to its BetStars sports offering.
For more info, please contact press@betstars.com
About BetStars
BetStars is a new online sports betting site from
PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room. The sports betting service features a wide range of
popular and specialist betting options, fantastic promotions, and is home to Spin & Bet – one of the
most unique products in its market, which enables bettors to get up to 10 times the odds when placing a
bet.
BetStars offers players a seamless experience between sports betting, casino and poker, with a single wallet between all three services. BetStars is available online and on mobile and tablet, with dedicated iOS and Android apps for a quick and simple betting experience.
BetStars is owned by Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA).
About Amaya
Amaya is a leading provider of technology-based solutions,
products and services in the global gaming and interactive entertainment industries. Amaya owns gaming
and related consumer businesses and brands including PokerStars, Full Tilt, BetStars, StarsDraft, the
European Poker Tour, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour and the Asia Pacific
Poker Tour. These brands have more than 97 million cumulative registered customers globally and
collectively form the largest poker business in the world, comprising online poker games and
tournaments, live poker competitions, branded poker rooms in popular casinos in major cities around the
world, and poker programming created for television and online audiences. Amaya, through certain of
these brands, also offers non-poker gaming products, including casino, sportsbook and daily fantasy
sports. Amaya has various gaming and gaming-related licenses or approvals throughout the world,
including from the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, Greece,
Ireland, Romania, the Isle of Man, Malta, the State of Schleswig- Holstein in Germany, the Province of
Quebec in Canada, and the State of New Jersey in the United States.
About ABP
The British Horseracing Authority, the Racecourse Association and
the Horsemen’s Group launched the ABP policy on the 20th October 2015 with the intention of recognizing
offshore betting operators who commit an agreed rate of contribution to British Racing from their
profits on the sport.
The range of advantages associated with being an Authorised Betting Partner includes, but is not limited to, use of a kitemark and promotional benefits as part of a marketing campaign to be rolled out across the sport; the opportunity to negotiate preferential commercial arrangements with participating racecourses, for example, relating to access to sponsorship opportunities; wifi provision and wider promotion.
The purpose of this voluntary scheme is to address the reduction in the income the sport receives from the Horserace Betting Levy as a result of the shift towards remote and offshore betting, which is not captured by the current legal framework.