by Renee Israel
Three sportsbooks in the United Kingdom have reportedly lost out on
a large portion of potential betting revenues because of their practice of
offering worse odds in their land betting shops than they do on their online
betting sites.
Punters who place their bets online with the various sportsbooks - which include
William Hill - reportedly enjoy better odds than betting fans who make the
physical trek down to their local High Street betting shops to place their
wagers.
Vaughan Lewis from Morgan Stanley commented that that this strategy was
"unsustainable", since the best odds were being advertised on television. "We
see significant, long-term threats to retail profitability, and see no reason
why the ongoing profit declines since 2004 will abate," he said.
William Hill Sees Profits Fall
On account of this discrepancy in the odds and the fact that analysts feel
that the group's internet betting would be unable to make up for lack of growth
of its retail operations, Vaughan Lewis altered its advice about William Hill to
"underweight" and as a result of this opinion, William Hill saw it shares fall.
The company saw its shares drop to as little as 223.6p.
However, William Hill, being such a large and successful sportsbook, was able
to pull through this and since has managed to recover its share price fairly
well, although the company noted that its shares were still 4.2 p down at 230p.
Ladbrokes, another UK sports betting giant, saw its shares rise 0.9p to
146.3p despite having the same "underweight" rating that Lewis assigned to
William Hill.
It remains to be seen if UK bookies odds discrepancies will be
repeated or not, and, although William Hill still has an underweight rating from
Morgan Stanley, it may be possible that they will rectify the error and have
punters both online and those visiting the sports betting shops and kiosks in
the UK feeling equally satisfied with the odds they are offered.
William Hill Offers High Quality Gaming and Betting
One of the most recognised and trusted brands in the gambling
industry, William Hill provides gaming and betting services across multiple
channels, including high street, online, phone betting and mobile betting. The
group is listed on the London Stock Exchange and employs over 15,000 people in
the United Kingdom, Israel, Gibraltar and Bulgaria.
