Betfred Purchase Moplay Player Base After Addison Global Liquidation
Betfred have won the auction to purchase the UK and Irish player base of the now defunct MoPlay, with the sale taking place after Addison Global was put into liquidation. The player base of the German part of the business has been won by EagleBet. There are about forty-five thousand players based in the United Kingdom and Ireland that Betfred now own the details of.
Firms like Virgin Bet, Star Sports and BetVictor were also in the running for the details of the firm’s players, but it was Betfred that came out on top in a highly competitive auction. Part of the purchase will see MoPlay customers paid out funds that they’ve struggled to get from the troubled bookmaker. The confirmation of the purchase was sent to MoPlay customers by e-mail.
Why MoPlay Was Sold
There have been numerous issues for MoPlay, most of which have been well-documented during the parent company’s implosion. The most high-profile incident occurred in September of 2019 when Manchester United, the English Premier League side, filed a lawsuit in the United States of America against Select Management Resources that sought $11 million in compensation.
That was because MoPlay had made a ‘global sponsorship agreement’ with the Red Devils, which included a missed payment clause worth up to £12 million. Having been launched by Addison Global in August of 2018, MoPlay became the sponsors of both Manchester United and West Ham United in an attempt to win new customers by saturating the UK market. Both partnerships were then annulled by Addison Global.
It was evident that Addison Global were suffering financial issues, which led the United Kingdom Gambling Commission to suspend the company’s gambling licence. That made it illegal for Addison Global to offer gambling services in the UK, which was a decision taken after it was revealed that one of the company’s biggest financial backers was pulling their support.
Addison Global then made the decision to sell off MoPlay’s customer player base in the hope that it would give them enough money to pay people monies owed. Initially customers were told that new bets weren’t being taken, but then the message changed to inform them that the site could not process withdrawals. It also referred customers to their terms & conditions, which suggested that funds would not be protected in the event of insolvency.
What the Betfred Purchase Means
In some ways, Fred Done will no doubt have enjoyed being the one who won the player base information in the bidding war. A life-long Manchester United fan, Done may have seen it both as good business and something of payback for the way that his club was treated by them. The auction came about after the courts in Gibraltar ordered a liquidator to go through the sale of Addison Global’s assets.
What it means for former MoPlay’s customers remains to be seen, with the email issued to them saying that further information will be released in the coming weeks. It did suggest that players will need to register an email with Betfred so that they’ll be able to reclaim account balances moving forward. It was suggested that the delay in getting in touch with customers was due to the need to sell to a highly reputable company that ‘met strict data protection and privacy standards’.
Not the Only Moves in the Market by Done
The move to buy MoPlay’s player base isn’t the only one that Fred Done has made in the market recently. Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited also bought a 3.03% stake in William Hill after it became apparent that the rival betting firm was ‘massively undervalued’. The lack of real valuation seems to be based on William Hill’s expansion into the sports betting market that has opened up in the United States of America.
Done felt that he was getting a good deal for the William Hill shares only for the value of the company to fall further earlier this week. It dropped 25%, putting Done’s deal behind the curve already. Even so, the Greater Manchester-born operator was reportedly planning to buy more shares in the rival company. It seems to suggest that he thinks the dip is a temporary one and that there’s money to be made from the US expansion.
Done is clearly comfortable with the current market when you look at his decision to give the go-ahead for the purchase of the MoPlay player base at the same time as his moves to take chunks of William Hill. It is reflective of a man who has made it his business to make the right decisions in the world of betting. Doubtless that was in his head when the ability to make the purchase of MoPlay’s player base came up.