Betfred is a United Kingdom-based bookmaker, named after its co-founders
Fred and Peter Done. It was first established as a single shop in Ordsall,
Salford, in 1967. Its turnover in 2004 was more than £3.5 billion, having risen
from £550 million in 2003. The company has more than 1,350 betting shops.
Its head office is in Birchwood, Warrington. The managing director is
John Haddock who started with the company as a regional manager.
Fred Done was the first ever bookmaker to pay out early, when in March 1998 it
paid out to gamblers who had bet that Manchester United would win the Premier
League, only for Arsenal to pip United by one point. Betfred also paid out
early on Manchester United to win the 2011–12 Premier League title, only for
Manchester City to beat them on goal difference.
During the 2004–05 FA Premier League season, Done lost £1m to fellow
bookmaker Victor Chandler after staking that amount that Manchester United would
finish higher than Chelsea. Sponsorship
Betfred are the official betting partner of Wembley National Stadium and operate
betting booths for all England and Football Association matches. Betfred
have recently extended this deal for a further four years. Meanwhile, Betfred
are the official betting partner of Tottenham Hotspur.
It also sponsors Haydock Park Racecourse including the Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup
in September. Betfred also have an on course betting shop at the North West
track. Betfred also sponsor races at Kempton Park Racecourse and provide an
on course betting facility. Betfred are main sponsors of three
greyhound tracks Nottingham Greyhound Stadium, Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield and
Kinsley Greyhound Stadium. Betfred.com also sponsored the World
Snooker Championship held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for four
tournaments from 2009 to 2012, and are sponsoring it again from 2015 until at
least 2017. Goals Galore
Goals Galore is a coupon exclusive to Betfred which initially started out in
the retail estate. Each week the Goals Galore coupon is
published and customers have to pick which games they think both teams will
score in. A Goals Galore Bonus coupon is also
available which contains fewer games, this makes it tougher but customers are
rewarded with bigger odds. Betfred customers can place their Goals
Galore bets in shop, online or via mobile. iPhone and Android users can
also download the Goals Galore App. Marketing Campaigns
The most notable campaign was the new account offer of ‘6/1 Arsene Wenger to
wear a coat’. In the weeks prior and post campaign numerous articles surfaced
with humorous video content of Arsene Wenger trying to zip up his knee length
coat. Betfred used the next available
opportunity that an Arsenal game would be screened live on BT Sport to deliver
a topical Acquisition offering. Using a clever play on the topicality of
Arsene Wenger’s coat at the time coupled with the display of Betfred’s ‘Fun &
Friendly’ core brand values brought fantastic results, including trending in
the app store popular searches for 48 hours.
Arsene Wenger emerged from the tunnel without a coat which resulted in a high
volume of tweets regarding the offer, culminating in the Sky Sports News app
updating users that he had put his coat on.
Partnerships In March 2015 Betfred teamed up with
Rewards4Racing in a joint effort to promote racing to a wider audience.
Rewards4Racing allows members to spend points with various retailers and in
return they earn points, which can then be used to purchase tickets from 16
courses around the country. Customers who sign up for a Betfred
account are able to claim 2000 points whilst they can add to their total with
every £1 staked at Betfred equalling a point for their Rewards4Racing balance.
Fred’s Bonus Hour Each Saturday, Betfred boss Fred Done
streams a live bonus hour to his shops, offering price boosts on some of the big
favourites running that day, a notable one being Golden Horn to win the Derby.
In late 2014 a decision was made to show the stream live on Betfred.com.
The Tote On 3 June 2011 Betfred bought The Tote
in a deal worth £265m. The company pledged £155m into racing over the next
seven years, as well as creating the Tote Racing Development Board, giving
greater say to industry figures. Football manager and racehorse owner Sir
Alex Ferguson had lent his support to Betfred's bid.
References = Explanatory notes =
= Notes = External links
Official site Official corporate site
Official Peter Done site Interview with Fred Done re history and
foundations Interview with Fred Done on expansion
plans