Flutter Entertainment is the online gaming platform formed as a result of the merging of Paddy Power and Betfair, who are well know sportbook operators, back in 2015. Also owning The Stars Group which is a Canadian gaming platform and FanDuel, Fox Bet, Sportsbet, TVG, to name but a few. Flutter is definitely one of the big guns and has just sealed the deal to purchase Tombola; another huge household gaming and bingo brand in the UK and beyond.
The deal was signed off, just yesterday with the purchase of £402 million being completed in cash using business reserves. Wow, what a deal!
For 16 years, Tombola has been a much loved brand and claim themselves, on their website to be Britain’s Biggest Bingo site. We all know and love the television adverts and even more so the low stake games they are primarily famous for; but still with hefty prizes available and excellent socialising on their cleverly moderated and run chat rooms.
Furthermore, Tombola was recently catapulted into the public eye in 2018 as the sponsor on the ITV hit celebrity reality show I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here. With nearly half a million visits to the site, making deposits and the brands fairly recent introduction into Europe including Italy and Spain; it is certainly an oven ready deal for even bigger things.
Tombola was one of the first brands to provide stronger safety assurance to its loyal customers. The first brand to introduce mandatory staking and deposit limits set the parameters for other UK brands to follow suit. This attitude to safe player experience aligns itself well with Betfair and Paddy Power.
Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter, commented:
“The brand aligns closely with Flutter’s safer gambling strategy, a key area of focus for us. I am excited to combine Flutter’s digital marketing expertise with Tombola’s operational capabilities within the UK and Ireland division.”
Who would have though that Phil Cronin, the CEO of Tombola, who started out in the 60’s working for his parents bingo ticket printing business would be sealing a multi million pound deal to start off 2022! I is expected to leave the business now, however are sure he wont be too worried about the future!
With Tombola’s head quarters based in Sunderland and smaller locations in Gibraltar, Madrid and Milan we look forward to seeing how this brand evolves and moves with the times over the coming couple of years.