Betfair if it is them

[STFC Bart]

Bloody leeches morelike

[random_five]

I don't get why a bookmakers would want to buy a football club  :?

Would they even be allowed to? If they owned us, how could they then take bets on STFC results? Or even League 1 / FA Cup result etc..?

Sounds like a load of old bollocks to me.

But they don't take the bets do they.  They provide the platform where users take and make bets against each other.  Is that not the way it works?

You could be right mate.. but this is on their offical site, so I'm not sure the FA/FL would allow it:  "Betfair Limited is located in the United Kingdom and operates within the confines of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963. It holds a bookmaker's permit in England and Wales."

Who knows..

[Batch]

But they don't take the bets do they.  They provide the platform where users take and make bets against each other.  Is that not the way it works?

Indeed it is. They are a betting exchange. They facilitate the bet between two punters.

They do have casino interests and the like, but I doubt anyone will accept "STFC on red" as a bet.

[RobertT]

The guy who set them up also owns some race horses.  Massive success story but stalled a bit when the US prevented their use I think.  Essentially it was a business based on some software they had designed to allow a money exchange in betting.  I think the owning company is called The Sporting Exchange Ltd or something like that.

Their personal wealth isn't massive in millionaire terms, although pretty big for us but certainly not in a position to plough millions in.  Maybe enough to buy the club and consolidate it's debts etc.

[Samdy Gray]

My friend Google came up with this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Black_%28gambling_entrepreneur%29

I'm a busybody and I'm proud of it  

[yeo]

Betfair aren't Bookies its a Betting Exchange they dont offer odds their customers do,so it wouldnt be a conflict of interests.

[sonic youth]

i don't see why they'd be interested in buying a league one football club that's worth fuck all but has a pricetag of a few milion!

[Power to people]

The question remains why would they want a football club though if they are a betting exchange and only deal in bet's.....although surely STFC is a gamble in itself  

[yeo]

The same could be said of any potential non Town fan investor couldnt it?

Ive no idea why anyone get involved to be honest.

[Colin Todd]

The guy who set them up also owns some race horses.  Massive success story but stalled a bit when the US prevented their use I think.  Essentially it was a business based on some software they had designed to allow a money exchange in betting.  I think the owning company is called The Sporting Exchange Ltd or something like that.

Their personal wealth isn't massive in millionaire terms, although pretty big for us but certainly not in a position to plough millions in.  Maybe enough to buy the club and consolidate it's debts etc.

The parent (sporting exchange Ltd) is a very strong company - £25m profit for year ending 30/4/07 with shareholders funds of £174m at that point in time. They seem to be owned by a mixture of individuals and what could be private equity firms

Not that that answers why they would be interested in buying STFC. Still, a new bandwagon is a new bankwagon

All hail our new bookie overlords!  Whats that? Mike has pissed them off after asking for £200m for 3 shares? oh.

[herthab]

Bloody leeches morelike

And people wonder why I regard Bart as an annoying turd.......

Who would you be happy with Bart?

If Betfair are really interested in them (Or anyone else) I would rip there fucking arm off!

[SwindonStevo]

one thing though surely they will want to sponser us eventually as part of the deal. when does the deal with kingswood end?

[donkey]

If indead this is true I would imagine they will be looking at a nice big casino as part of the ground redevelopment

Didn't Rikki Hunt promise us this years ago? :?

[Digglie]

Not the most persuasive of evidence but at least it seems there is a wiltshire connection http://www.hackinthebox.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=11558. Maybe they're fans?

"Bookmakers around the globe are up in arms as gambling's fastest-growing phenomenon -- the Internet -- threatens to rewrite the rules of one of the world's favorite pastimes. Having a similar effect to what Napster had on the music world, these savvy Web sites -- which function like stock exchanges for punters -- are challenging the multi-billion-dollar bookmaker business by making an entrepreneurial move on the established market online. The nightmare for bookmakers like William Hill and Australia's Tab Ltd started at a party in Wiltshire, England, on the day of the 1998 Wimbledon men's tennis final. Edward Wray, a JP Morgan debt trader, and his brother's best friend, Andrew Black, a software contractor with the British government, were chatting about using the Internet to allow punters all over the world to set their own odds and gamble against each other without the need for a bookmaker. "

[dell boy]

i'll offer you 3-1 that betfair are the other interested party.

Put that bet on Betfair and see if you have any takers, then you will find out if it is Betfair!!