There are well backed entrepreneurs around sniffing out profitable opportunities in all industries.

Andrew Black and partners hit the jackpot with Betfair so no reason why others cannot succeed in the betting industry.

There is plenty of fish out there but they now bet with the bookmakers because Betfair no longer offer the best value prices on the Exchange with the Sportsbook simply not even a serious place for betting.

Of course liquidity is going to fall if you hide away the Exchange on the website and do not advertise that it exists to potential new customers.

The other Exchanges have failed quite simply because they don't advertise their products properly and their products are grossly inferior to Betfair in terms of the range of markets.

Life is complicated but go back 20 years when people had to go to the shops to place a bet. The world is always changing and Betfair will also find its market share seriously under threat when a well backed new entrant appears with a new innovative product.

Technology advances and relentless change open up opportunities in all industries.

It is only a matter of time now and Betfair will be in serious trouble unless the level of customer dissatisfaction is addressed.

The changes since the premium charges were first introduced has eroded customer loyalty and positive feelings towards Betfair which is very sad.

Many people see Betfair now as simply an unreliable website, empty boxes in many markets and sky high charges for people taking big risks.

Less liquidity = Betfair downsizing and no liquidity = no business.

Betfair need customers far more then customers need Betfair as people can bet anywhere or spend their money on other activities.

if the PC effects such a small % as 1% of users , is the income produced worth the bad publicity/PR that it has created compared to the drop in profit from it being removed , with a possibility of increased turnover ?

obviously they will never remove it all together , but a different charging structure is required , as the 20% is alot but the 250k 40-60% is just silly .

people join betfair to win money , try systems , enjoy the challenge , being told that if you ever make it pay you will have to pay excessive ammounts cuts that dream short , which means some people won't even bother .

betfair is an eco-system , but so is the way people perceive the charges and the game of betfair , make the charges too silly and liquidity new customers cease to increase

quite true coinflip .

Your smoking some good sh*t, westender

Haha.

Mate if the premium charge payers didn't need Betfair they would have already left.

coinflip i hear what your saying, but would disagree.

the primary 'objective' of the betfair exchange is to relieve every customer of as much of their money as possible. that is the betfair business model.

the primary 'objective' of a co-op exchange is to create a framework of fairness and opportunity, not exploitation.

this framework is designed and built by the customers, for the customers. it would be the perfect model to stop most of the screwing around that you mentioned.

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http://www.cityam.com/1405060037/betfair-sees-profit-tax-rise-61pc

Betfair sees profit before tax rise 61pc

Betfair has seen its profit before tax rise 61 per cent to £61.1m during this financial year, according to preliminary results released today.

The period, which does not include the World Cup, also saw EBITDA rise 24 per cent to £91m and dividends up 54 per cent to 20 pence per share.

The results are underlying data and not reported, meaning they have been adjusted to aid comparability.

The company credited better operating efficiency and an expansion of its online marketing capability for the rises.
Breon Corcoran, Betfair’s Chief Executive Officer, said:


    "The introduction of the Sportsbook, increased television advertising spend and the strengthening of our online marketing capability have broadened our customer reach and led to a 54% increase in the number of customers acquired in the UK and Ireland. As a result, we have seen three consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth in sustainable markets."


The company's results also refected the growing mobile betting market, with its mobile revenue rising 70 per cent.

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http://www.twst.com/update/67563-betfair-group-plc-annual-financial-report

Virtually hiding the Exchange and not advertising the Exchange to potential new customers plus these results show that there is an increasing market gap in the Betting Industry waiting to be filled as Betfair morphs into Bet Flower.

The prob. for bf's winners is that the petty recreational pound loses 15p on the pound staked to poor-value fun multiples with a tiny chance of a life-changing win. They also pay for tea, warmth and television screen. The slightly better-off recreational pound is a 'deep-sea fish' tempted in by slightly less poor-value offers of cashbacks on scenarios they can imagine but not price.

In growing, bf have to appeal to these betting styles.

It wd be so much better for winners if the standard way to lose was to bet a significant portion of your salary and leak 2.5%, even to eventualities that seem exceptional or real hard-luck stories. But it's not.

To grow, bf needs an increasing share of the mindspace of the 98% of bettors that lose. This means a poor-value gambling product, misleading 'funny' advertising and a foothold in the consciousness of the losing punter and his mates. There is no incentive in improving things for anyone but these players and the huge turnover-high commission incumbent big liquidity providers i.e. not people who win selectively through any kind of judgment edge.

Winning punters need to look other than to an exchange model if they want to make a living long-term through betting. A low-margin huge-liquidity tote is a better bet.

MARKY SPARKY DID YOU GET A BOW AND ARROW AS A PRESENT AT A VERY EARLY AGE

Big profit rise, no movement on share price.  Says a lot really.

Premium Charge payers had 'sweeteners' last season with no charge on rugby union and asian handicaps.I was under the impression there would be other such offers-does anyone know if anything else is likely in the near future?

Sad days on Betfair - cannot blame customers for leaving with those sky high premium charges and unreliable exchange website.

Think they have lost sight of the fact that Gambling is not a necessity in life for the vast majority of people and the few that do bet will only use Betfair if there is a unique product offering better value than the market. (eg Exchange and better prices.)

Liquidity declining week by week = no longer best prices = customers spending money elsewhere.

Cannot see why Betfair Mgt don't care about this as the Exchange customers are not interested in the poor value Sportsbook.

If the Exchange closed tomorrow, nearly all the current Exchange customer base would severe all ties with Betfair and bet elsewhere.

No liquidity = no business

Betfair is now well down  the road of self destruction and it is very sad.

I would be of the same opinion as you Westender but for the share price doing very well for several months now.If the picture is all doom and gloom why the share price increase?

The best thing about betfair was being able to trade. Now there's no liquidity you can't even do that any more. I can't even give bets away on side markets to trade out.

Sad days

The Tesco analogy is a good one. I went to Sainsburys and spent £90 and they gave me a 10p off a litre for petrol coupon. I went to Tesco and spent a similar amount and it was worth 2p a litre. If I shop at Tesco I see half arsed offers like 10p off a £4 product. Tesco have taken their customers for granted and expected loyalty without having to compete for it just like Betfair have. Betfair's idea of an offer is a six month trial free of PC on a minority betting sport like rugby.

Somewhere along the line someone has really dropped the ball at Betfair. From an innovative product that had the bookies running for cover with a product that was going to revolutionise betting they have become a joke amongst their peers. Ten years a go I would have predicted that Betfair would be putting their competitors out of business as the older generation died off and the newly adult generation was more computer savvy. They should have concentrated on being the platform to bet rather than think they were the market. The mock funeral they held for traditional bookies must be embarrassing for them now as they strive to become a second rate sportsbook rather than a first rate exchange.

They must know PC has been a disaster as they throttle the life out of the exchange and a customer base that one loved them now hates them. No one at Betfair has the balls to tackle this problem head on and they'd rather bury their heads in the sand and continue to squeeze the life out of the golden goose rather than try and nurse it back to health.

I don't take any interest in the share price or profits but I'm amazed to hear they're holding up. I should go short on them because the brand in reality now is a pile of smelly stuff and not the innovative company it once was. Perhaps the city and the investors haven't realised this yet because it's certainly no Facebook or Google.

But you also need to address courtsiders and fast picture players. They need to be paying at least 60% not 10%.