Irish gambling company Paddy Power and Facebook have partnered on a sports betting launch in Britain.
According to reports, the two companies have already test-launched the concept to about 2,000 British users.
However, as online gaming continues to go international, the partnership could be ever-expanding.
“We hope to launch more broadly in the next six to eight weeks depending on the learning from that,” Paddy Power Chief Executive Patrick Kennedy told Britain’s Sunday Independent.
Paddy Power spent a year developing the concept, and would be the first to offer sports betting on a social network.
Social media offers an immense potential customer base.
“In the U.S. alone, consumers spend what amounts to a collective 100,000 years on Facebook in one month, and betting is an inherently social activity,” Kennedy said. “There’s no doubt that the online consumer is consuming social media disproportionately.”
Sports betting and online gaming on a national level are currently not legal in the U.S. Paddy Power, however, has applied for an online gaming license in New Jersey, where statewide online gaming is scheduled to begin November 23.
The Paddy Power brand has 10 million Facebook fans and 250,000 Twitter followers. It also has a partnership with Twitter, with prospects for future offerings there. Online revenue makes up 20 percent of its business, and is rising.
