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Betfair has made and will continue to make a significant number of redundancies as it undergoes a huge restructure and adapts to a solely regulated market strategy under new chief executive Breon Corcoran, eGaming Review has learned.
The number is known to be in the hundreds with one internal source claiming it to be as high as 650 employees. Many of these individuals are known to be within the operator’s marketing divisions that totals around 300 staff globally and which includes affiliate management and CRM with these roles largely based in London but also across the world. This follows the initial 50 redundancies made across helpdesk and customer service staff in November last year and the departure of former UK director Peter Marcus.
A source within the company described today’s news as a “big change” and that many people across the business's various global locations would be affected. He said the redundancies were “in line” with the new CEO’s plans to move from investing in a cross-section of regulated and unregulated markets including emerging territories such as Latin America as well as areas where the company faces “regulatory risk” such as Greece, to a model of purely regulated and regulating countries.
Another source from within the company said changes were being made within Betfair’s regulatory and compliance departments. He added that he had heard changes within the technology department were also being made, however this remains unconfirmed.
A number of employees eGR spoke to said they were uncertain of their short-term futures at the company and that they were awaiting further news.
A spokesperson for Betfair declined to comment when contacted by eGR, however following last year’s withdrawal from Germany a source within the company revealed that “a massive restructure” had begun and that further redundancies and market closures would be announced. Since arriving as CEO last August, Corcoran has cut the number of markets in which Betfair operates, pulling out of Greece and Cyprus as well as Germany.
The latest round of redundancies is believed to affect a number of its global offices with operational and helpdesk employees in the company’s Malta office among those affected as well as its emerging markets team in London and in Greece.
In an interview with Maltese news site Malta Today published this week, Betfair Malta managing director Steve Ives said: “We have reduced our scale a bit in recent months, mainly as a result of a reduction in the number of geographic markets we are addressing. But we are still committed to having a substantial operational based here in Malta for the foreseeable future.”
At the company’s results presentation for the six months ended 31 October 2012, the operator announced that it would be withdrawing its investment in financial betting exchange LMAX and multiplayer social gaming business Kabam.
Corcoran said at the time: “We are now pursuing a new and more focused strategy to address the business' challenges and exploit its market opportunities,” adding that “We have...identified a number of areas requiring change and fixing these will take time.”
The number is known to be in the hundreds with one internal source claiming it to be as high as 650 employees. Many of these individuals are known to be within the operator’s marketing divisions that totals around 300 staff globally and which includes affiliate management and CRM with these roles largely based in London but also across the world. This follows the initial 50 redundancies made across helpdesk and customer service staff in November last year and the departure of former UK director Peter Marcus.
A source within the company described today’s news as a “big change” and that many people across the business's various global locations would be affected. He said the redundancies were “in line” with the new CEO’s plans to move from investing in a cross-section of regulated and unregulated markets including emerging territories such as Latin America as well as areas where the company faces “regulatory risk” such as Greece, to a model of purely regulated and regulating countries.
Another source from within the company said changes were being made within Betfair’s regulatory and compliance departments. He added that he had heard changes within the technology department were also being made, however this remains unconfirmed.
A number of employees eGR spoke to said they were uncertain of their short-term futures at the company and that they were awaiting further news.
A spokesperson for Betfair declined to comment when contacted by eGR, however following last year’s withdrawal from Germany a source within the company revealed that “a massive restructure” had begun and that further redundancies and market closures would be announced. Since arriving as CEO last August, Corcoran has cut the number of markets in which Betfair operates, pulling out of Greece and Cyprus as well as Germany.
The latest round of redundancies is believed to affect a number of its global offices with operational and helpdesk employees in the company’s Malta office among those affected as well as its emerging markets team in London and in Greece.
In an interview with Maltese news site Malta Today published this week, Betfair Malta managing director Steve Ives said: “We have reduced our scale a bit in recent months, mainly as a result of a reduction in the number of geographic markets we are addressing. But we are still committed to having a substantial operational based here in Malta for the foreseeable future.”
At the company’s results presentation for the six months ended 31 October 2012, the operator announced that it would be withdrawing its investment in financial betting exchange LMAX and multiplayer social gaming business Kabam.
Corcoran said at the time: “We are now pursuing a new and more focused strategy to address the business' challenges and exploit its market opportunities,” adding that “We have...identified a number of areas requiring change and fixing these will take time.”
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Bf had something like 2,200 employees before the cuts. A more conventional sportsbook like Bet3.65 had 1,700 or so (bf's revenues or winnings before costs were in the region of 40 million, & bet3.65's of 90 million).
The focus imv has to be on employee activities that do something to make customers bet legitimately w/ the firm. Regulatory and to a degree technological departments suffer from unexpected diseconomies of scale, in that every new country you add on outside of a home market generates less revenue than Britain and requires an entirely different compliance, coding, legal (and so on) approach.
Further the momentum of these depts. quickly spins off from the growth, and growth strategy, of the rest of any company. If someone is going to be employed for the next three months, then possibly have a permanent job, doing marginally valuable regulatory work, they will exaggerate the necessity of said work and make execution of it as complex as possible. This is something that Breon Corcoran stamped down on at P*wer and it looks like he is following a similarly focused, 'what-is-good-for-the-company-should-be-good-for-any-surviving-employee' line at bf.
The two main perspectives that bf has lost sight of, imv, in the last five years or so have been those of the winning small player and of the visionary founders, the last being aligned with the customer in a way that probably inimical to the management of any conventional sportsbook. Paradoxically an exchange can do well by giving good opinion players exactly what they want, since 1) the opinion players play among themselves, with a few extra counterparties; they can't all win and the house takes a rake, and 2) exchange betting is a natural monopoly, so the house that gives the losers the best run for their money will dominate a rational market.
But does the company have much of a handle on what winning bettors want? We have all seen the excrescence that is the new site, plus bf's sportsbook that is not competitive with a single rival, when serious books like pinny and 5d1mes have limits in the tens and hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile, the exchange is still losing custom to the domestic opposition through the new site not matching cashback offers virtually to the letter and through bf lacking 'anytime scorer' and other, easily offered derivative markets on the football.
The focus imv has to be on employee activities that do something to make customers bet legitimately w/ the firm. Regulatory and to a degree technological departments suffer from unexpected diseconomies of scale, in that every new country you add on outside of a home market generates less revenue than Britain and requires an entirely different compliance, coding, legal (and so on) approach.
Further the momentum of these depts. quickly spins off from the growth, and growth strategy, of the rest of any company. If someone is going to be employed for the next three months, then possibly have a permanent job, doing marginally valuable regulatory work, they will exaggerate the necessity of said work and make execution of it as complex as possible. This is something that Breon Corcoran stamped down on at P*wer and it looks like he is following a similarly focused, 'what-is-good-for-the-company-should-be-good-for-any-surviving-employee' line at bf.
The two main perspectives that bf has lost sight of, imv, in the last five years or so have been those of the winning small player and of the visionary founders, the last being aligned with the customer in a way that probably inimical to the management of any conventional sportsbook. Paradoxically an exchange can do well by giving good opinion players exactly what they want, since 1) the opinion players play among themselves, with a few extra counterparties; they can't all win and the house takes a rake, and 2) exchange betting is a natural monopoly, so the house that gives the losers the best run for their money will dominate a rational market.
But does the company have much of a handle on what winning bettors want? We have all seen the excrescence that is the new site, plus bf's sportsbook that is not competitive with a single rival, when serious books like pinny and 5d1mes have limits in the tens and hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile, the exchange is still losing custom to the domestic opposition through the new site not matching cashback offers virtually to the letter and through bf lacking 'anytime scorer' and other, easily offered derivative markets on the football.
Commiserations to staff who are being let go. The "crack trading team" surely have to be first in the p45 list though.
There is a frighteningly simple, cheap and inevitably successful way for Betfair to boost its own liquidity on main and side markets, they just haven't spotted it and thought it through, and they don't listen to anyone. They just continued with the banal crack trading team, which costs a fortune and brings in nothing.
WELL WHAT A SURPRISE.
Since the tax was brought in every market has gone downhill;
Then the betfair brains brought in 8 secs delay on inrunning football markets,that sent everyone nuts.
Add all there silly charges for data and they got exactaly what they deserve.--**** all.
Since the tax was brought in every market has gone downhill;
Then the betfair brains brought in 8 secs delay on inrunning football markets,that sent everyone nuts.
Add all there silly charges for data and they got exactaly what they deserve.--**** all.
That was to ballabriggs's frighteningly simple and foolproof way to boost liquidity.
I had to smile when I saw the 'industry editor's' in the RP Bill Barber declare a 'dark day' for bookie employees w/ the cuts. Why not say 'chance of better prices for punters at betfair' w/ redundancies for non-productive staff?
Does the RP imagine that its core readership is now racing connections and the bookmaking industry? Has it given up on the rest of us?
I had to smile when I saw the 'industry editor's' in the RP Bill Barber declare a 'dark day' for bookie employees w/ the cuts. Why not say 'chance of better prices for punters at betfair' w/ redundancies for non-productive staff?
Does the RP imagine that its core readership is now racing connections and the bookmaking industry? Has it given up on the rest of us?
BETFAIR TRADERS. Leave it out,the only chance they have is if they can cheat somehow.The pros on here eat them,and when they can not is when they know they are cheating.
Any business that builds a great brand with loyal customers who rave about them has done something tremendously well. Once there to then "s haft" some of the customers who helped build the brand is not the greatest strategy! Seems like changes are happening but Betfair need to hope its not too little too late but I fear the worst.
I know I will be in the minority in the forum but the moves they are making now could have them at the top of the market in two years time.
When the exchange was created, it was populated by 'city boys' who easily understood the exchange and punters who were looking for 'an alternative' and were able to grip onto the basics.
Betfair can use the fixed odds platform to sustain themselves while waiting for the following:
The States.
When it comes to gambling, the State governments need to realize that all week the media talk as though gambling exists (i.e. spreads, etc) BECAUSE IT DOES.
Right now, individual States are looking for new streams of revenue. I think in the next 12 months, you will see a change in attitude starting with on-line.
Betfair have taken strong holds in California and New Jersey. They will prepare for the doors to open.
In the meantime, create a model that can sustain itself rather than spreading your chips around the table.
When the exchange was created, it was populated by 'city boys' who easily understood the exchange and punters who were looking for 'an alternative' and were able to grip onto the basics.
Betfair can use the fixed odds platform to sustain themselves while waiting for the following:
The States.
When it comes to gambling, the State governments need to realize that all week the media talk as though gambling exists (i.e. spreads, etc) BECAUSE IT DOES.
Right now, individual States are looking for new streams of revenue. I think in the next 12 months, you will see a change in attitude starting with on-line.
Betfair have taken strong holds in California and New Jersey. They will prepare for the doors to open.
In the meantime, create a model that can sustain itself rather than spreading your chips around the table.
Often takes a new man to do the right thing as they are not tied to the bad decisions of the past. The recession started 5 years ago and they should've seen it coming earlier that these money pits were exactly that.
My view about the fixed odds site is if they want it to be a success, then they have to advertise it. They need a USP that is 1. worth advertising 2. complements the exchange brand and 3. doesn't give away too much value. At the moment they don't have any USPs, it's not price or market competitive, and I don't think they know how to adverise it without confusing punters and the brand. I have an idea thats a little bit outside the box.
My view about the fixed odds site is if they want it to be a success, then they have to advertise it. They need a USP that is 1. worth advertising 2. complements the exchange brand and 3. doesn't give away too much value. At the moment they don't have any USPs, it's not price or market competitive, and I don't think they know how to adverise it without confusing punters and the brand. I have an idea thats a little bit outside the box.
If there really are 300 people in marketing then these cuts cannot come quick enough. There must be so much dead wood in Betfair it is unreal. 300 marketing bods is an astonishing number if the overall staff is around the 2,200 mark.
TheVis, when I moved here, I am constantly amazed on how many people are employed for marketing in all sectors in the UK.
The office I worked in was involved with, on average 350 shows over 10 years. There were four of us in the office and then for large events/festivals, would bring in help.
The office I worked in was involved with, on average 350 shows over 10 years. There were four of us in the office and then for large events/festivals, would bring in help.
If you are going to bring people into an organization, they need to offer 'diverse' ideas rather than being part of a committee approach to marketing and promotion.
Part of the reason they had so many marketeers was surely that they were operating in so many territories. Plus there was a big internal effort to explain what bf actually was to the people meant to market it.
Shape, I fear that greed is going to kill them again as they try to penetrate US states. They've already said the commission is going to be 10%. That will thrash the local totes but what is going to happen with the layers? How can they get their regular market-makers betting on these markets? They will run into the sand again with cross-border wallet and market pooling issues. The risk for them in these markets is that they do't have a sufficient volume of lay money and the best way to secure that is to stick religiously to the tapering 5% commission model bf began with.
A company succeeds when the management thinks it isn't leaving enough on the table for the itself (them or the firm). Think of M&S in 1985 or Tesco in 2007. I wd go into them, suck my cheeks and think, 'that's cheap'.
This is how a new generation of exchange punters in the States has to think about bf.
Shape, I fear that greed is going to kill them again as they try to penetrate US states. They've already said the commission is going to be 10%. That will thrash the local totes but what is going to happen with the layers? How can they get their regular market-makers betting on these markets? They will run into the sand again with cross-border wallet and market pooling issues. The risk for them in these markets is that they do't have a sufficient volume of lay money and the best way to secure that is to stick religiously to the tapering 5% commission model bf began with.
A company succeeds when the management thinks it isn't leaving enough on the table for the itself (them or the firm). Think of M&S in 1985 or Tesco in 2007. I wd go into them, suck my cheeks and think, 'that's cheap'.
This is how a new generation of exchange punters in the States has to think about bf.
10% would be Ok if customers averaged a 90% return on stakes. If the only bets available are against shrewd layers, the return will be well below 90% for most people.
Who are these layers going to be? Will the people who lay books on UK racing be permitted to lay California racing?
If not, how quickly will a betting population only accustomed to the tote and exotics take to laying? 10% commission on winning lays will only price in 'shrewd' or connection layers. I can see a costly rerun of all the issues about inducement to corruption, betting-to-lose and threat to jobs that bf negotiated so badly in Australia.
The company have two assets: 1) IR, and 2) their in-built pricing advantage on multi-runner events. They have to 'own' these spaces. There's no way they can be beaten so regularly on CS, first & last goalscorer and novelty / proposition bets.
If not, how quickly will a betting population only accustomed to the tote and exotics take to laying? 10% commission on winning lays will only price in 'shrewd' or connection layers. I can see a costly rerun of all the issues about inducement to corruption, betting-to-lose and threat to jobs that bf negotiated so badly in Australia.
The company have two assets: 1) IR, and 2) their in-built pricing advantage on multi-runner events. They have to 'own' these spaces. There's no way they can be beaten so regularly on CS, first & last goalscorer and novelty / proposition bets.
How, with 300+ people in the marketing team, did nobody notice or point out the fact that the 'Cut out the Middle Man' campaign had completely misunderstood what a betting exchange is?!
Judging by some of their decisions over the last 3 years, the place has become bloated with people who haven't the foggiest idea what an exchange is, or that they are one.
so whats happening with this purple place ?seems to have all gone quiet
Every business model is about 'expansion' and the 'understanding' of a betting exchange is difficult and constantly hit 'ceilings' when expanding into markets.
Even Peter Webb spoke of betfair in the simplest terms (something like "it allows you to lay horses"). No one explains playing multiple markets, etc, or simply says:
"You get to set YOUR PRICE", even leaving it up AFTER THE RACE STARTS" thus dictating your value.
There are countless times I have left 4.40 up with KEEP when on a horse race when the market had it at 3.00 since I thought 3/1 was the price, it got matched and the horse won. It is simple.
Or, if you don't want it kept, you put up your price and if it doesn't get matched, it gets canceled. The public are doing this every day on Ebay.
Even Peter Webb spoke of betfair in the simplest terms (something like "it allows you to lay horses"). No one explains playing multiple markets, etc, or simply says:
"You get to set YOUR PRICE", even leaving it up AFTER THE RACE STARTS" thus dictating your value.
There are countless times I have left 4.40 up with KEEP when on a horse race when the market had it at 3.00 since I thought 3/1 was the price, it got matched and the horse won. It is simple.
Or, if you don't want it kept, you put up your price and if it doesn't get matched, it gets canceled. The public are doing this every day on Ebay.
Coachbuster - looks like Lads are gonna give the exchange model a crack. Aiming for increasing liquidity, growth in marketing etc. at Purple in the first instance, with a launch of the Lads exchange in 2014. See latest on Bet Angel's blog for further details. At least in puts to bed rumours that they were only after their technology.
http://www.betangel.com/blog_wp/2013/02/21/ladbrokes-****-play-becomes-clearer/130221-ladbrokes-results-presentation_crop/
Just in case there's a problem with the link, Lads are going to: Enhance BDaq liquidity, then grow BDaq coverage, then improve BDaq functionality, then improve BDaq marketing, then launch Lads exchange.
Knowing little more than this slide, it looks very promising.
Just in case there's a problem with the link, Lads are going to: Enhance BDaq liquidity, then grow BDaq coverage, then improve BDaq functionality, then improve BDaq marketing, then launch Lads exchange.
Knowing little more than this slide, it looks very promising.
Time frame is 2013 for BDaq stuff and 2014 for Lads Exchange.
I just ran a unique user check
Ladbrokes 3 yrs....90,000 down to 65,000
theDuck.....same period....3,500 to 8,000
Betfair steady over 200K
bear in mind, unique visitors per day / not necesarily users
Ladbrokes 3 yrs....90,000 down to 65,000
theDuck.....same period....3,500 to 8,000
Betfair steady over 200K
bear in mind, unique visitors per day / not necesarily users
They shd begin by enhancing functionality, then add markets/liquidity and so on.
They aren't beginning to get the liquidity for v. simple reasons--that when you tweak your stakes, prices etc. on a market you have to wait fifteen secs. during busy times while the screen says 'loading' and your numbers update.
Even people who aren't loyal to one company and are sensitive to price above all else can't deal with that kind of unreliability.
They aren't beginning to get the liquidity for v. simple reasons--that when you tweak your stakes, prices etc. on a market you have to wait fifteen secs. during busy times while the screen says 'loading' and your numbers update.
Even people who aren't loyal to one company and are sensitive to price above all else can't deal with that kind of unreliability.
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