Since 2000 BETandWIN.com Interactive Entertainment AG, a leading provider of online gaming products in Europe, has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. Last December the company announced that it had entered a Share Purchase Agreement with Ongame e-solutions AB to acquire 100% of its shares. Ongame owns PokerRoom.com, one of the top poker websites with over five million mostly American users.

Moves in the United States to make online gambling by its citizens both illegal and extremely difficult may affect the profits of many online operators in due course. So far, this has not altered the BETandWIN agreement with Ongame, whose two Swedish founders are set to make around US$175 million from the deal when finalised sometime before the end of April. Nor has it seemed to deter BETandWIN from negotiating another deal, this time with Barcelona Football Club.

The famous red and blue shirts of Barcelona, the Spanish league leader, have held out against sponsorship advertising, but this may be about to change. The reported deal will be worth around US$21 million annually, making it one of the biggest shirt sponsorship deals ever. There is still opposition from those against sullying the red and blue stripes, so the BETandWIN proposal has yet to be accepted and is unlikely to result in its logo appearing on the shirts until after next season.

In the meantime, the merger with Ongame should leave BETandWIN as the world’s third largest online gaming company. Should US laws start to bite, a new look at marketing possibilities may make the difference between success and failure for online gaming operators. (E-02.20.06)

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