888 taking a dive in the pools

Published on Tuesday 24 June 2008 22:25

SPORTECH, the Football pools operator, is to target millions of online poker and casino players following a "milestone" deal signed yesterday with 888, the internet gaming giant.

Its "New Football Pools" games – comprising the historic Littlewoods, Vernons and Zetters brands – are to be marketed across 888's entire gaming database later this year.

888 had 4.9 million registered customer accounts as at the end of March, compared to Sportech's estimated 700,000 pools players.

The deal is the latest of Sportech's attempts to fight a shrinking market and attract more younger customers to its pools games, which were played by ten million people back in their early 1990s heyday. It will also involve 888 marketing Sportech's products – including casino, poker and bingo games – to both companies' customers.

Included in the support package is the creation of a common gaming platform and wallet for Sportech, which will allow access to its gaming products.

Sportech said the contract, which begins this September, was structured to "incentivise 888 to drive traffic to Sportech's sites". Ian Penrose, Sportech's chief executive, said: "This is a strong strategic partnership.

"This fits exactly with our strategy of reinvigorating the pools business and delivering an enhanced and modern product for today's gaming customers."

Gigi Levi, 888's chief executive, called the deal a "milestone agreement".

Sportech's brand names – which date from the 1920s and 1930s – will disappear in August as the business is re-branded as The New Football Pools.

The company was created in 2000 following the reverse takeover of Rodime, an Edinburgh-based computer hard disk drive company, which bought Littlewoods' pools in the same year.