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Bodog pulls US ads, but continues Poker for US Players

by PokerPages.com
Fri, Dec 8th, 2006 @ 12:00am

Bodog.com Entertainment, owner of Bodogpoker.com, announced plans to pull all of its U.S.-facing gaming-related advertising yesterday, mostly for its free-play and educational site Bodog.net.

However it confirmed its real money online poker site will still accept U.S. players.

The Digital entertainment powerhouse described the advertising pullback as "quite extensive". The pullback will include advertising on television, radio, magazine and newspapers in the U.S. market.

Bodog will instead focus its gaming and educational site advertising on the European and Asian markets, according to company spokesperson, who added that this was a "... strategic decision based on the entertainment company's long-term business objectives."

In the company's statement, Bodog.com founder Calvin Ayre said that "the recent legislation passed by the US Congress was the reason behind the decision", and that it created "current uncertainties in the U.S. market."

Ayre was referring to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) legislation which was signed into law October 13, 2006. It made it illegal for financial institutions to handle transactions from US residents to online gambling sites.

Ayre reinforced that Bodog's advertising will focus outside the U.S., saying, "Though the online gaming environment in the U.S. seems to be headed down a path toward eventual regulation, the current climate calls for even more focus of our gaming-related advertising dollars into markets that face Europe and Asia."

Ayre added, "We couldn't be better positioned to build upon our current success and growth and to continue our aggressive push toward international expansion into markets such as Europe and Asia."

The company's U.S. advertising pullback in favor of focusing on Europe and Asia comes on the heels of the company's strategic agreement in October to purchase Betcorp Limited's infrastructure.

Ayre hinted that the Betcorp acquisition "... is in keeping with Bodog's long-term expansion strategy and is the first of many possible international acquisitions."

Betcorp's international customer base has substantial European numbers as well as a solid base of customers to permit further expansion into Asia, giving Bodog immediate leverage in those markets.

In addition to Betcorp's gaming products, technology, customer base and licenses, Bodog also acquired Betcorp's offices in the Caribbean nation of Antigua. So Bodog relocated its headquarters and gaming operations from Costa Rica to Antigua. So in addition to Antigua it is licensed in the United Kingdom and Kahnawake, Canada.

"This is another step aimed toward strengthening our business model," Ayre says. "This accords our gaming division a license in a safe, reliable and well-regulated jurisdiction and Antigua is also the right jurisdiction from which to run our European expansion."

 

 

 

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