Coinciding with the Queen’s Jubilee weekend, Cellectivity is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the first mobile sports bet taken through Bet2Go. Whilst perhaps not quite equivalent to the Diamond Jubilee, this Tin Jubilee is a major milestone in mobile sportsbetting for the company, and indeed the industry.
As one of the very first to take a mobile bet on a phone, and certainly in the context of a mobile odds comparison service, Bet2Go can certainly be seen as a pioneering mobile app. Except of course nobody even thought about apps at that point, and the bet was taken using the WAP service, which is still running today after all those years, and with loyal customers.
It was of course very early days for mobile betting, and any mobile transactional service in general. Many people say mobile betting didn’t really start taking off in a big way until about the last two years or so, mainly as a result of the popularity of smartphones. We would agree with that assessment, although many of the registered users are still from the earlier years.
The current Bet2Go app is a long way removed from the initial forays into the new medium. Initially it started out with SMS and WAP betting, followed in 2005 by the downloadable J2ME version, which seemed a revelation at the time, as the first downloadable app, and using colour and images.
Most of the first years of betting came from the deals in place with mobile operators promoting the Bet2Go service on their portals. It is no surprise therefore that the first bet was placed by an O2 user for a cautious GBP1 with Ladbrokes on the Brazil win versus Turkey Group C match for the World Cup 2002, at odds of 8/15. For the record: the lucky punter walked away with a GBP1.53 win, after Brazil cam from behind to win 2-1, their second goal an 87th minute penalty by Rivaldo.
First steps are being made now for a complete re-branding and redevelopment of Bet2Go, starting with a new smartphone app, over the coming weeks.
Bet2Go Sports allows punters to compare prices and place a bet across a range of the world’s best online bookmakers – Ladbrokes, Blue Square, Paddy Power, Skybet, BoyleSports, and William Hill. In addition to being able to compare odds and place simple bets, Bet2Go also offer price comparison on accumulator bets so that the best value is available whatever the type of bet you are trying to place.
Bet2Go Sports’ unique single registration process requires users to register only once before being able to place bets with any one of the listed bookmakers. It is available online at www.bet2go.com and to mobile users via different methods: i) WAP or; ii) downloadable Java application (by texting BET to 60602); iii) web app for iPhones and Android phones (http//:m.bet2go.com); and a native iPhone and Android app. Bet2Go Sports provides a free, simple, easy to navigate, fast and secure service.
Marcel Puyk, CEO of Cellectivity, commented, “This is an very exciting time to be involved in mobile betting. It now seems a long time ago when we started. But whilst we have been around from the very beginning, the mobile sports betting market is showing explosive growth at the moment and our punters are demanding a better service. So to that extent we have to continue innovating and offering new ways to interact.”
“It is nice to remember the early days at a moment like this, but times move on very quickly in the mobile betting world. I am very excited by the smartphone app work, which will be a step-change forward for our service. The Euro 2012 championships promise to be a new peak for mobile betting, and we intend to be very much part of that.”
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