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Next Game: Rushall At Home In The League On Saturday 30th November At 3.00pm

Thursday, October 13, 2005

More success for Sportingbet

Sportingbet, started some years ago by Hereford United supporter Mark Blandford, has reported some excellent figures for the year ended last July. Profits have risen from £8.3m to £40.8m.

Part of the rise has been put down to a high-profile advertising campaign that featured model Caprice on a desert island offering punters the chance to play poker against her during November. Sportingbet owns Paradise Poker.

Blandford still owns just under 4% of the company. He reduced his stake last April when he sold £6.5m worth of shares. Sportingbet has a market capitalisation of over £900m.

The success of Sportingbet contrasts against the poor performance of UK Betting, the company that recently took over control of Confguide and has a sponsorship deal with the Conference through its Totalbet subsidary. It has recently reported another loss.