Paddy Power produced financial results yesterday that saw net revenue increase by 17% and profits up 5% on 2012 to a global figure of €141 million.
Three quarters of the companies operating revenues now come from online with mobile revenues increasing by 73% year on year through greater use and market penetration of smart phones.
The company said that it would be seriously increasing its UK marketing spend, especially on television advertising as concerns grow in that market around social responsibility when it comes to betting.
At present Paddy Power is spending at twice the rate it was a year ago and that is expected to continue at least through to the FIFA World Cup in June and July.
Next week is the Cheltenham Festival, the busiest single week of the year for betting companies in Britain and Ireland, with high quality racing backed up by Champions’ League football on Tuesday and Wednesday evening.
News coverage of the financial results was swamped yesterday by anger expressed online and over the airwaves at a bet the company is promoting on the outcome of the Oscar Pistorious trial in South Africa. A petition set up in Britain had reached 120,000 signatures last night calling on the company to withdraw the bet on account of it making light of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp.
Paddy Power have traditionally generated massive publicity around sometimes controversial subjects, including around the visit of Denis Rodman to North Korea last year but this seems to have crossed a line in terms of general public acceptance.
Whether that impacts in a positive or negative way on the business next week will not be known until the final bets are counted but it has certainly put the brand in the spotlight at a time when more people will open new betting accounts than in almost any other week of the year.
Betting and gaming is seen as one of the largest areas for growth in sporting sponsorship across markets where it is legal. Paddy Power is the official betting partner of the IRFU. Bragbet fills the same role at the FAI while the GAA has steered clear of betting partnerships at national level. Betting companies are among the largest sponsorship groups in horse and greyhound racing.
