The British bookmaker William Hill has very strong ties with various sporting associations, and quite rightly too. They make their money from sports-betting, but have a very strong online presence, not only in sports-betting, but for bingo, spread, betting, casino games and even online poker. Online gambling and sports-betting firms in particular have a long history of sponsoring sports teams, but this time William Hill has gone really big and is supporting an entire association – William Hill will become an "official supporter" of the national Scottish team, after signing a two year agreement with the Scottish Football Association.

William Hill’s Chief Marketing Officer – Kristof Fahy – says these are exciting times in football and they are extremely excited to be involved with the Scottish National team. The road to Rio is on, so, not only does the sponsorship agreement strengthen their ties with football in Scotland, they also get to jump aboard the Road to Rio bandwagon. The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be held in this World-class Brazilian city. The William Hill Scottish Cup is already sponsored by this firm, and they serve as the Scottish Premier League’s (SPL) official betting partner.

Obviously William Hill would love to see of the Scottish side go all the way to a place (if not the top) in the 2014 World Cup finals. But one thing it is going to be, is a fascinating journey.
Campbell Ogilvie, who is President of the Scottish Football Association is in turn delighted to have Will Hill as their official sponsor – heck they need all the help they can get – but the brand has already showed robust commitment to Scottish football, so this is not a new in-road for them. The online gambling company seriously are one of the biggest Scottish football supporters. This new sponsorship merely cements their position as such even more.

The agreement comes into force with immediate effect; in fact we expect they have had the new shirts made already! William Hill receives a whole host of sponsorship rights; these include; branding, hospitality, advertising, and exclusive content and imagery.

It is interesting to note that this British Bookmaker is also one of the sponsors of the English Football Association, but there is no conflict of interest. They have served as an official supporter of the England side and FA Cup in the past, and will continue to do so till the end of the FIFA World Cup in 2014.

After England’s dismal performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, let’s hope that the Scottish side can show them a thing or two this time. There was massive debate after England was sent home – about whether or not this team had become too spoiled by their mind-blowing earnings, and had somehow come to the conclusion that when they were playing for their country, they had the right to underperform. Let’s hope things have changed somewhat, and there will be a different performance in 2014.

William Hill Online has been crowned operator of the year at the 2011 eGaming Review operator awards – beating shortlisted nominees including Bet365, Betfair and 888 to win the coveted trophy.

Held at the Honourable Artillery Club (HAC) in London, the annual egaming operator awards was bigger than ever this year with more than 700 online gaming professionals joining host and comedian Rufus Hound to celebrate the industry’s achievements in last 12 months.

According to eGR’s independent panel of judges, William Hill Online deservedly took home the most prestigious award of the evening, with the panel describing the operator as "the turnaround story of 2011".

"William Hill Online has transformed its brand into a dynamic fresh faced online gaming brand and their momentum shows no sign of slowing down," they said.

Henry Birch, CEO of William Hill Online said "The eGR award for operator of the year recognises the huge strides we’ve made over the last 12 months. I want to thank everyone at William Hill Online for all their hard work over the year – it has been fantastic!"

William Hill Online 2011

Following an outstanding performance in 2010, William Hill Online has continued to deliver excellent results this year.

In 2011, William Hill added Italian, Irish and Canadian sites to their international portfolio. The new additions now mean Hills offer 26 different language/territory sites which are available to over 175 different countries across the globe.

In Spain, William Hill Online have expanded their product range and through clever marketing techniques they’ve managed to become one of the leading players in the very competitive sector.

Another new site which William Hill added to its product range is their new financial betting site Day Trader.

The Mobile betting division benefitted from a series of innovations, including an exclusive relationship as the betting partner for the Racing Post app (William Hill took its millionth bet on the App in June), Shake-A-Bet, Mobile Casino and their new mobile sports betting site.

In-play amounts staked grew 95% year-on-year fuelled by continuous product expansion. Recent examples include being the only bookmaker to offer point-by-point betting on every Wimbledon match and the launch of an expanded in-play basketball products.

William Hill Online’s extensive pre-match and in-play football offering means the bookie offer around 500,000 betting opportunities every week on the widest variety of markets in the industry.

To support their online products – William Hill signed exclusive betting arrangements with ESPN, SPL, Scottish Football, the Sun’s Dream Team, the Investec Derby, and Super League Rugby.

Gaming net revenue grew 15% in the first half of 2011 period including Casino net revenue grew 14%, benefitting from further enhancements in the flash-based product range. Underlying gaming net revenue grew 29%. Bingo and Poker also grew, up 25% and 11%, respectively.

Their new revamped Bingo site embarked on a massive promotional campaign in October when they gave away 31 cars in 31 days to prize draw winners.

Poker is continuing to run some of the best promotions on the poker planet, while William Hill Vegas, Skills and Live Casino have also enjoyed a strong 2011. Vegas was spurred on by new games including exclusive marvel comic games and the Madness (music band) games.

Photo Caption: William Hill CEO Henry Birch, second from the right, receiving the trophy for operator of the year at the 2011 eGaming Review operator awards at the Honourable Artillery Club (HAC) in London, 30th November 2011.