Sky Betting & Gaming

Sky Betting & Gaming is a British-based Canadian gambling company, owned by The Stars Group, with headquarters in Leeds, West Yorkshire and offices in Sheffield, London, Guernsey, Rome and Germany. Sky Betting & Gaming consists of six core brands: Sky Bet, Sky Vegas, Sky Casino, Sky Poker, Sky Bingo and Sky Lotto. It also owns online betting odds comparison site Oddschecker. Sky Betting & Gaming also operates popular, free-to-enter football prediction game Soccer Saturday Super 6.

Sky Betting & Gaming
TypeLimited company
IndustryOnline gambling and gaming
HeadquartersLeeds
ProductsSports betting, online poker, online casino, online bingo, odds comparison service, fantasy football and football predictor game
OwnerFlutter Entertainment

In 2015, Sky plc sold an 80 percent stake in the company to CVC Capital Partners for £600 million,[1] with Sky retaining a 20% stake in the company and agreeing to a long-term licence of the Sky brand.[2] In 2018, CVC and Sky agreed to sell Sky Betting & Gaming to The Stars Group for £3.4 billion, which was then acquired by Flutter Entertainment.[3]

Sky Bet
Sky Bet logo used since September 2020.

Sky Bet is the sports betting division of Sky Betting & Gaming, with the majority of its operations run from Leeds.

History

Sky Bet's origins lie in BSkyB's acquisition of Sports Internet Group in July 2000[4] which included the small telephone and online sports betting based company Surrey Sports, alongside two other companies: Planet Football and Opta Index. Surrey Sports was rebranded in July 2002 to create Sky Bet. The company grew in December 2006 when established online betting companies totalbet and ukbetting were consolidated into Sky Bet after BSkyB's purchase of 365 Media Group.[5]

Sky Vegas
Sky Vegas logo used since September 2020.

Sky Vegas is the company's primary online casino division. The company's online casino offering is distinguished from the majority of its competitors in that it plays in-browser rather than requiring a software download.

Sky Vegas is licensed and regulated by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) (GCB).

Until 12 April 2011, Sky Vegas had a dedicated TV channel of the same name on Sky channel 864 (which was formerly called 'Sky Vegas Live'), when it was rebranded for Sky Bet.

History

'Sky Bet Vegas' was created in March 2003, initially with only 3 fixed odds casino-style games called 'Juicy Jackpot', 'Top Spin' and 'Super Keno'.[6]

Oddschecker

Oddschecker is an odds comparison website, which compares the odds offered by the most popular betting companies that cater to British and Australian customers, including Sky Bet. It forms part of the betting content of some other sites, such as Bettingzone. The company also offers reviews and comparison of online gambling websites through its 'Casinochecker', 'Pokerchecker' and 'Bingochecker' sections.

Oddschecker was established in 2001 and acquired by Sky in 2007.[7]

At the election night on November 4th, 2020 in the USA, Oddschecker recorded the highest traffic day in the history of 21 years.[8]

Soccer Saturday Super 6

Soccer Saturday Super 6 launched in 2008, is a free-to-enter online prediction game, whereby players must correctly predict the score lines of 6 selected matches in order to win the weekly jackpot of £250,000.[9] There is a £5,000 consolation prize for the week's best performer if the jackpot is not won. Gillette Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling is the face of Soccer Saturday Super 6.

Notes
  1. "Sky completes sale of Sky Bet to CVC Capital Partners". Sky plc. 19 March 2015. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018 – via Financial Times.
  2. "Sky sells majority stake in Sky Bet". BBC News. 4 December 2014. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  3. Lee Mottershead (21 April 2018). "Sky Bet snapped up by Canadian betting giant Stars Group in £3.4bn mega deal". Racing Post. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  4. "An introduction to Sky Bet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  5. "VNUNet: Sky gambles on 365 Media Group". Archived from the original on 17 February 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  6. "Media247: New interactive Sky betting service". Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  7. "'People are requesting a much more personalised experience". Marketing Week. 10 September 2014.
  8. Isaac, John (16 November 2020). "Oddschecker Has Seen the Highest Traffic Ever During the US Elections 2020". Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  9. "PREDICT 6 SCORES TO WIN £250,000". super6.skysports.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
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