Betfair
is the trading name of The Sporting Exchange
Ltd.
The Sporting Exchange Limited is registered as a
limited liability company in England and Wales,
company number 3770548. The registered office of
The Sporting Exchange Limited is at:
The Waterfront,
Hammersmith Embankment,
London,
W6 9HP.
The Sporting Exchange Limited was founded in
August 1999 by Andrew Black and Edward Wray in
order to commercialise proprietary betting
technology that had been under development for
the preceding year.
The technology used by The Sporting Exchange
Limited is proprietary and, as well as being
protected by copyright, is the subject of
several patent applications that have been filed
with various jurisdictions.
The Sporting Exchange Limited is located in the
United Kingdom and operates within the confines
of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963.
It holds a bookmaker's permit in England and
Wales
The fact that gamblers can now lay outcomes on
the exchanges has caused tremendous criticism
from traditional bookmakers with much of the
anger coming from the UK's "Big Three" - Coral,
Ladbrokes and William Hill. These firms argue
that granting who they consider to be anonymous
punters the ability to bet that an outcome will
not happen is causing corruption in sports such
as horse racing (since it is much easier to
ensure a horse will lose a race, the bookmakers
reason). Exchanges such as Betfair counter that
while corruption is possible on any gambling
platform, the bookies' arguments are motivated
not by concern for the integrity of sport but by
commercial interests. Exchanges also assert that
they are well aware of who their customers are
and Betfair in particular has noted that they
have signed numerous agreements with governing
bodies of sport including the Jockey Club, with
whom they insist they will co-operate with fully
if the latter suspects corruption to have taken
place
