Betfair's Mobile Gambling Revenues Rise

The trend toward mobile gambling continues to take hold, with British betting operator Betfair the latest to see a jump in mobile betting in the second quarter of 2011, while suffering losses in other areas of its operations.

Mobile gambling helped to offset losses in other areas, with the number of bets on smartphones and other mobile devices almost doubling to£7.4 million - translating to an increase in revenues to £4.2 million.

Core revenues from sports betting, games and poker offerings actually fell an annualized 7% to £80.8 million in the three months to July 31. However, this could partly be attributed to the especially high volume in online betting in the corresponding period last year, when the FIFA World Cup was on.

There was a 19% drop to 381,000 in active sports betting customers in the second quarter, compared to the previous year. However, Betfair said average revenue per user was up 17% to £157. The company said this was a result of its focus on retaining its highest value customers.

Betfair has undergone a raft of changes in the past year and will undergo more in the coming year, as CEO David Yu is expected to step aside in 2012.

The company moved its headquarters to Gibraltar in March, but last month the British government said online gaming companies such as Betfair that base themselves offshore would still need a domestic license to accept bets from UK-based customers. Betfair is also planning to enter the Italian and Spanish online gambling markets.