Business model of Paddy Power Betfair

Customer Segments

Paddy Power Betfair offers a range of sports betting and bookmaking services to general consumers through multiple channels. The accessibility and ease-of-use of the Company’s online platforms cater to more casual consumers that wish to place occasional bets, as well as to more regular gamblers who are able to utilise the more readily utilise the other functions and resources offered online.

Paddy Power Betfair serves an extensive customer base in the UK, which accounts for the bulk of its revenue. The Company also serves a significant customer base in both Ireland and Australia, and serves customers in the US through a single online betting platform.

Value Propositions

Paddy Power Betfair provides value to its customers in the following ways:

• Its reputation and industry standing, with the Company established as a leading provider of sports betting and bookmaking services, having a positive reputation and large market share within a competitive industry;
• Its brand strength, with the Company providing services through several popular brands, including Paddy Power, Betfair, and TVG, each of which has a distinct brand identity and large following;
• The accessibility and functionality of its online platforms, with the Company’s online sports betting platforms, and supplementary mobile applications, enabling casual and more regular gamblers to easily place bets from anywhere and at any time;
• Its multiple service channels, with the Company additionally offering bookmaking services through physical retail outlets, and telephone bookmaking teams, ensuring that all customers have access to the Company’s services; and
• Its international reach, with the Company offering services to clients across the UK, Ireland, and Australia, as well as to customers in the US through its TVG platform.

Channels

Paddy Power Betfair operates a corporate website at www.paddypowerbetfair.com, through which it provides information on its brands, services, and regional markets.

The Company serves clients directly through multiple online bookmaking platforms, notably www.paddypower.com, www.betfair.com, www.tvg.com, and www.sportsbet.com.au, as well as through corresponding mobile applications for iOS and Android devices. These platforms enable customers to place bets, track odds, and manage account details. Paddy Power Betfair additionally operates two television channels in the US under its TVG brand, which broadcasts horse racing events on which customers can place bets.

Paddy Power Betfair additionally operates a network of physical retail bookmaking outlets in the UK and Ireland, including numerous locations across major cities such as London, Birmingham, and Manchester. The Company employs sales and service personnel in these outlets who are able to serve customers directly.

Paddy Power Betfair also provides telephone bookmaking services through dedicated telephone sales teams under its various brands, who operate out of the Company’s network of call centres and offices across the UK Ireland, Australia and the US.

Customer Relationships

Paddy Power Betfair provides services to customers on a largely self-service basis, with its online and mobile betting platforms accounting for a significant portion of its business. These platforms and mobile applications allow customers to place bets, manage account details, track odds, and withdraw winnings without interacting directly with members of the Company’s sales and service teams.

Paddy Power Betfair provides a more personalised service through its network of physical retail outlets and its dedicated telephone bookmaking teams. Through these channels, customers are able to access guidance on betting markets and odds, and can receive tailored responses to queries and complaints. The Company seeks to establish longstanding relationships with its clients through high-quality customer service and regular offers and rewards for regular customers.

Paddy Power Betfair offers ongoing support to its customers under its various brands. Customers are able to contact the Company’s support personnel over the phone, via email, or through an online contact form, in order to receive personalised assistance. The Company also offers a range of online support resources – such as FAQs and user guides – that can be access by customers independently.

Paddy Power Betfair additionally operates a number of social media accounts under its various brands – including with Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube – through which it is able to publish company updates and interact directly with customers.

Key Activities

Paddy Power Betfair is an Ireland-based online betting and gaming company. The Company provides a range of sports betting and bookmaking services to customers across the UK, Ireland, Australia, and the US.

It aligns its operations into five reportable business segments: Online (ex Australia), which comprises the operations of the Company’s UK, Ireland, and US-based online betting portals; Online Australia, which comprises the online operations of the Company’s Australian betting brand Sportsbet; UK Retail, which comprises the operation of the Company’s UK-based network of retail outlets; Irish Retail, which comprises the operation of the Company’s Ireland-based network of retail outlets; and Telephone, which comprises the Company’s telephone bookmaking services. The Company’s core brands are Paddy Power, Betfair, Sportsbet, and TVG.

Key Partners

Paddy Power Betfair works closely with a network of partner companies and organisations. These partners can be organised broadly into the following categories:

• Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of services, technologies, and equipment that are utilised across the Company’s various operating units and segments I support of its core sports betting and bookmaking operations;
• Affiliate and Marketing Partners, comprising a range of online companies and websites that assist in marketing the Company’s services and driving traffic to its online portals in return for commissions;
• Payment and Technology Partners, comprising various technology companies and specialist payment solutions providers that assist in developing and maintaining the Company’s online platforms;
• Business-to-Business Partners, comprising a range of betting and bookmaking companies with which the Company’s shares resources, technologies, and sports betting products; and
• Strategic and Alliance Partners, comprising market leading companies across a range of sectors with which the Company collaborates on joint projects in branding, marketing, and development.

Paddy Power Betfair has a number of key partnerships in place. In 2015 the Company notably renewed long-term partnerships with international bookmaking companies PMU International in France, and Canada’s British Columbia Lottery Corporation, and launched a new partnership with Reta in Spain.

Key Resources

Paddy Power Betfair’s key resources are its technologies and intellectual properties, its online platforms, its IT and communications infrastructure, its sales and marketing channels, its partnerships, and its personnel.

Paddy Power Betfair owns a number of intellectual properties and utilises a range of proprietary technologies in the development and implementation of its service offerings. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified a single patent application in filed with Paddy Power Betfair (under its former name) listed as assignee: ‘System and method for fantasy sports gambling’.

Paddy Power Betfair additionally owns and or leases a number of physical properties across its operating markets, in particular its chain of retail outlets across the UK and Ireland.

Cost Structure

Paddy Power Betfair incurs costs in relation to the development of its proprietary technologies, the development and operation of its various online platforms, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the operation of betting activities, the operation of its sales and distribution channels, the implementation of its marketing and advertising campaigns, the procurement of professional services, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2015 Paddy Power Betfair recorded total operating expenses in the amount of €647.47 million. This included employee expenses in the amount of €296.92 million, property expenses in the amount of € 68.65 million, marketing expenses in the amount of €117.95 million, and technology and communications expenses in the amount of €58.73 million. The Company also recorded direct betting costs in the amount of €276.27 million.

Revenue Streams

Paddy Power Betfair generates revenue through the provision of online, physical, and telephone sports betting and bookmaking services. The Company principally derives its revenue through the operation of various betting activities.

In 2015 Paddy Power Betfair generated revenue for the year in the amount of €1.09 billion, up on the €881.6 million recorded by the Company in 2015. Over the course of the year, the Company’s revenue grew 24% and surpassed €1 billion for the first
time.