888 CEO Gigi Levy told Reuters: “We are going to soft launch sports betting next week and it’s going to be widely available this month.” The 888 sportsbook will be launched in six countries, including the UK and Spain.
888 Holdings also announced a 36% increase to $213m in yearly revenues in the first full year of results since the company left the US market. Casino revenue was $118m, poker revenue was $81m, a gain of 33% and 18% respectively over the prior year.
“We are delighted with our results released today, our first full year of trading without any business in the US. Our NGR in 2007 grew strongly by 36 percent compared to 2006 with very strong fourth quarter showing 22% NGR growth in Casino and 15% in Poker compared to Q3 2007. In addition our bingo business performed extremely well with US$14 million revenue since we acquired the business in May 2007. We have continued last year’s positive momentum into Q1 with the launch of our own new Bingo brand 888Ladies which is already showing hundreds of new customers recruited daily since launch in early February and the World Poker Crown, a US$3 million guaranteed poker tournament,” commented Gigi Levy.
In other news, PartyGaming named John O’Malia, former Head of Gamebookers, Chief Games Officer, a new high-profile role just below the CEO and in line with the COO.
Calculators
