Paddy Power
Paddy Power was founded in 1988, by the merger of the forty shops of three Irish bookmakers: Stewart Kenny, David Power, and John Corcoran. Stewart Kenny and Vincent O'Reilly had sold Kenny O'Reilly bookmakers to Coral in 1986, and then opened ten shops of their own by 1988; Kenny was group CEO from 1988 to 2002, and chairman from 2002 to 2003. John Corcoran's shops had traded as Patrick Corcoran.
David Power was a son of Richard Power and one of several inheritors trading under the Richard Power name. The Power name was considered the strongest brand among the merged shops, while the "Paddy" name and green colouring emphasised the chain's Irishness at a time when the fragmented Irish industry was facing competition from British betting chains entering the market in response to changes in the Irish tax code. Paddy Power had an aggressive expansion strategy involving opening prominent shops in most Irish towns, rather than side streets previously favoured. The firm's novelty bets broadened its media coverage beyond the horseracing news. Its share of the Irish off course betting market grew from 8% in 1988 to 33% in 2001. Power Lesiure, parent company of Paddy Power PLC, listed on the London Stock Exchange in December 2000, to fund an expansion in the United Kingdom. At the end of 2005, Paddy Power operated 195 outlets (150 in Ireland and 45 in the United Kingdom). The total number of employees was 1,374. On 27 May 2008, it acquired Northern Ireland independent bookmaker McGranaghan Racing, bringing Paddy Power's shop count to 191 in Ireland. In February 2010, the chain had 356 shops with 209 in Ireland, 8 in Northern Ireland and 139 in Great Britain. The bookmaker is known for offering odds on controversial markets in order to garner publicity, e.g., in November 2008, 16–1 was laid that United States President Barack Obama 'would not finish' his first term (this was widely interpreted as his odds of assassination). After English Premier League new entrants Stoke City lost their opening game of the 2008–09 season 3–1 to Bolton Wanderers, Paddy Power controversially paid out on bets on them being relegated. When the club finished in mid-table at the end of the season the company took out a full page advert in The Sentinel apologising to the club and its supporters. In December 2007, Paddy Power began offering online bingo games. The original "Paddy Power Bingo" used Parlay's bingo software. In 2009, Paddy Power moved their bingo operations from Parlay to Playtech's Virtue Fusion software platform. In July 2010, the company took the unusual step of refunding bets placed on Felipe Massa to win the 2010 Germany Grand Prix, following the notorious "team orders" incident, which led to Fernando Alonso being allowed to win the race, despite Massa's clear lead. In October 2011, the company paid out early on New Zealand winning the Rugby Union World Cup, four days before the final against France on 23 October 2011. The company boss said: 'New Zealand have left all of their opposition so far feeling black and blue and it's inevitable us bookies will be taking a hammering from them on Sunday too, so punters might as well collect now. The All Blacks were Paddy Power's 4/6 tournament favourites and were 1/9 odds on to win with France 13/2. As of November 2011, Paddy Power was the largest bookmaker in Europe by total share value. Its group income was €444m in 2010. On 14 May 2010, Paddy Power acquired a majority stake in Australian bookmaker Sportsbet.com.au. Paddy Power was placed 6th in the 2011 Management Today list of "Britain's Most Admired Companies". Paddy Power and British rival Betfair agreed terms for a merger in September 2015. The transaction was structured as an acquisition of Betfair by Paddy Power and the enlarged entity, named Paddy Power Betfair, is based in Dublin. The merger was completed in February 2016. Paddy Power CEO Andy McCue became COO of Paddy Power Betfair, with Breon Corcoran, CEO of Betfair, becoming CEO of the combined group and Paddy Power's Gary McGann becoming chairman. Andy McCue left the company in April 2016, to pursue other opportunities.
Paddy Power is widely regarded as the best online bookmaker to originate from Ireland. But they are more than just an Irish bookmaker and now they host a huge range of punters located all over the world. The brand started in 1988 on the back of a merger between three bookmakers to try and combat the increasing strength the powerhouses of the industry had back then. Little did they know that they would be where they sit today. Paddy Power has always done things a little differently to the conventional methods that most bookies follow. This has mainly come in the form of a range of controversial marketing campaigns that have an uncanny knack of being able to cause a scene. The company went through a multi-billion-pound merger with betting exchange giants, Betfair in 2016. This makes the Paddy Power Betfair brand one of the biggest in the industry. They sponsor several different sports teams and events, with one the highest profile being that of the Huddersfield Town FC. In fact, the deal that was struck with them in 2019 was one that caused quite a stir in that they removed any advertising from their shirt in a bid to “get clubs their shirts back”.
Paddy Power is one of the biggest Uk bookmakers. The company is perfect choice for everyone that wants to gamble. They have a lot of opportunities in different aspects of the sport. Paddy Power offers their clients with sport, bingo, casino and many more. The choice is all yours. Good luck!