bwin Reports Successful World Cup Results

VIENNA, Austria, July 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In the wake of the 2010 World Cup, bwin, the world's leading publicly listed online gaming provider, has reported record turnover for sports betting compared to previous major soccer events. Up to 260,000 bwin customers a day took advantage of a considerably extended range of betting services during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. A total of around 900,000 customers placed bets during the World Cup, about 213,000 of them active for the first time. The Company was also able to successfully reactivate existing customers: some 90,000 customers took advantage of the bwin product portfolio again after over six months.

Compared to the EURO 2008, bwin increased sports betting gross gaming revenues (GGR, betting stakes less customer winnings) by nearly 40 per cent to an average of over 1.1 million euros a day. This figure was almost doubled by comparison with the 2006 World Cup. A sports betting margin of around 9.1 per cent was an improvement on both the EURO 2008 (8.3 per cent) and the 2006 World Cup (6.7 per cent).

The most popular World Cup games with bwin customers with the largest number of bets placed included the semi-final with Germany against Spain, followed by the final with Netherlands against Spain and the semi-final with Uruguay against the Netherlands. The most popular bet was the three-way bet (1-X-2) in the Round of 16 with Netherlands against Slovakia.

Successful launch in France

On 8 June 2010, in good time for the World Cup, bwin was the only international online gaming provider to enter the French market with a sports betting and poker licence. Norbert Teufelberger, bwin Co-CEO, commented: "The first month of our market launch in France was promising despite taxation rates that are still currently high. Even now it is becoming apparent that past investment in our brand, technology and organization is beginning to pay off. Only a small group of providers is - and will be - in a position to meet the exacting demands of a regulated market." As was the case in Italy, in France, too, it was extremely important to be present in the market right from the word go, and to invest heavily in customer acquisition: it is either very difficult or very expensive to make up lost ground at a later date. "Due to the successful regulation of the market in Italy and France for customers, authorities and providers alike, we anticipate that other countries will soon follow this," concludes Teufelberger.

About bwin

The bwin Group has over 20 million registered customers in more than 25 core markets. On a number of different platforms, the Group offers sports betting, poker, casino games, soft and skill games, as well as audio and video streams of top sporting events such as the German Soccer League. The holding company bwin Interactive Entertainment AG is listed in the ATX on the Vienna Stock Exchange (ID code BWIN, Reuters ID code BWIN.VI), and as the parent company provides various services such as software development, marketing, communications, human resources and finance for its subsidiaries and associated companies. The operational business of the bwin Group is carried out by subsidiaries and associated companies on the basis of licences (e.g. Germany, Italy and Gibraltar). Full details about the Company can be found on its investor relations website at http://www.bwin.org.

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    Contact information:

    Press
    Katharina Riedl
    Head of Corporate Communications
    P: +43(0)50-858-20069
    E: [email protected]

    Investors
    Konrad Sveceny, Investor Relations
    P: +43(0)50-858-20017
    E: [email protected]

    bwin Interactive Entertainment AG
    Borsegasse 11 / Elevator 3 / Top floor
    1010 Vienna, Austria
    http://www.bwin.org

SOURCE bwin Interactive Entertainment AG