Social Betting BetBull Ceases Trading After Five Years
Social betting operator BetBull is ceasing operations after five years. The brand with Eric Cantona as an ambassador will stop taking bets on Friday.
BetBull Closes Operations © Unsplash.
Sports betting operator BetBull has announced they are ceasing operations after five years in the market. The online sports betting startup, which combined social and free-to-play mechanics, has not announced the reason for the closure.
In an email sent to customers, the company stated they had made the “difficult decision” to close operations and would not accept bets after midnight on Friday (24th). After that date, the only transactions customers can make will be withdrawals.
The email confirms that all bets placed before the Friday deadline will be honoured and settled as usual, but any bets due to be complete after midnight will be voided, and the stake returned. It is a decision unlikely to go down well with some punters, especially those who have placed ante-post bets on upcoming sporting events such as horse racing and the World Cup.
BetBull marketing director Paul Archer in a LinkedIn post, thanked staff for their efforts but offered little explanation for the closure. Archer wrote: “This week BetBull will cease trading; it has been a great journey – seeing the brand take its first bet to its last.
“Thanks to everyone for their efforts in the past years and a special thanks to those I worked most closely [with].”
Sadok Kohen founded BetBull and serves as President & CPO at Wynn Interactive. He founded the company in 2015 and was launched in 2017 after receiving backing from Norbert Teufelberger, the former CEO of bwin.
Kohen wanted to explore the social side of betting and the company used the tagline ‘Never bet alone’.The company shared bets from other customers and encouraged feedback on these predictions.
In 2018, US casino operator Wynn Resorts bought almost a quarter stake (22.5%) in the company to launch a US sports betting operation in America. Two years later, they paid an additional $80m to purchase BetBull, which was absorbed into Wynn Interactive. As a result, Wynn Resorts took a 71% stake, with 29% owned by BetBull investors.
In an anonymous post on Twitter, a message thought to have been from an employee at the operator said BetBull was a profitable business, and the decision came as a shock to the UK staff of the company. The person said the decision came from “blinded American owners who think there is no market/growth in the UK”.
In Companies House, the latest financial results posted by the company in 2020 show they generated a turnover figure of £6.6m, resulting in profits of just short of half a million pounds (£432,000).
BetBull’s decision will also likely shock the celebrities who have become brand ambassadors for the company. Forever Beta was appointed as their lead creative agency after a tendering process, and they brought in football royalty to promote the brand by hiring Eric Cantona.
Patrick Flynn, head of client services at Forever Beta, said: “Introducing Eric Cantona as their new ‘Bull’ really helps us deliver a truly memorable comedic campaign for BetBull’s unique social betting platform. At Forever Beta we drive to be innovative in everything thing we do, and want to work with businesses that do the same. BetBull is changing the way people bet and this campaign will tell everyone about this new, more sociable way to gamble.”
The company also hired Stephen Power, also known as Racing Blogger, alongside former footballers Ray Parlour and Darren Bent to front its social media content.
