Betfair to bail out Sporting Options punters

Online betting exchange Betfair has launched a rescue package to bail out gamblers who took a punt on rival company Sporting Options which has run out of cash and gone into administration this week.

On Monday Sporting Options was expelled from the betting exchange trade association when its crisis came to light and it became clear customer money was no longer available for use or withdrawal. The collapse of the company meant 5,300 Sporting Options customers were left out of pocket.

Administrator Menzies closed the website immediately.

Betfair has now stepped in to offer those customers the chance to claim their money, proposing a rescue package which would reimburse 5,000 of them and restore faith in consumers that a responsible and liquid exchange is still a viable business model.

Stephen Hill, Betfair's CEO, said: "Our rescue package reflects Betfair's commitment to the betting exchange punter and to the nascent betting exchange industry. It is a testament to Betfair's financial strength that we are in a position to be able to do this."

According to a statement from Betfair the package has already been agreed with Menzies and approved by the Betfair board.

Hill added that the demise of Sporting Options is further evidence of the pressing need for the controversial new Gambling Bill, "not only to regulate online bookmakers but also to update regulation for the wider betting industry so that all punters are properly protected".

Betfair claims its own model protects against such problems. All customer funds are held in a ring-fenced account audited by KPMG, which the company says is "as safe if not safer than it is with a bank", guaranteeing 100 per cent of customer funds are available to be withdrawn at any time.

"We very much welcome Sporting Options customers to Betfair and hope we have gone some way in restoring their confidence in the betting exchange industry," added Hill.