Interbet Mobi Media Release

INTERBET BRINGS SOUTH AFRICA STATE-OF-THE-ART MOBILE BETTING



“Interbet is launching a mobi site that is designed not only to make horseracing and sports betting simpler and more efficient in South Africa, but is an advancement in mobi design in SA in itself and will open up the exciting world of sports betting to the millions of sport-loving South Africans who do not have access to fixed line internet but thrive on mobile.” – Johnny Stark, co-founder, Interbet.



(10 October 2012) Interbet International, the pioneer online sports betting service in South Africa, launched the first state-of-the-art all-in-one local mobile sports betting service to the racing community and media at Turffontein Racecourse this week.



The Interbet website www.interbet.co.za is used as a trading platform for sports and horseracing betting by SA’s top registered bookmakers as well as the public and now this service is extended to the user-friendly mobi site www.interbet.mobi .



The Interbet mobi site works on any mobile device with a browser, including smart phones, tablets, android and older feature phones with internet.



Interbet CEO and co-founder Johnny Stark, who launched the company’s new mobi site, said: “Today we celebrate the evolution of sports betting, from ancient Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia, through the Middle Ages and Victorian era, and beyond its boom in the 20th century with the advent of television and the internet. We believe the future of sports betting lies in mobile.”



Stark said the new Interbet mobi site was an important development in sports betting in South Africa, because there was nothing else like it on the market.

Interbet is the first betting mobi site in the country to offer access to both sides of the betting game: betting fixed odds with bookmakers and tote betting with the TAB. Punters can use Interbet to bet with bookmakers as well as bet into tote pools such as the popular local Soccer 6, Rugby 5 and international Soccer 13.

Interbet’s fixed-odd (bookie) service covers all major local and international horseracing and sporting events such as soccer, cricket, rugby, tennis, motor racing and golf.








The Interbet tote service covers all horseracing on the Tellytrack channel, from South Africa, Zimbabwe, the UK, USA, Mauritius, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and all non-horseracing sports bets such as the Soccer 6 and Rugby 5.



“And now you can bet on your favourite sports from wherever you are, with a tool that has a simple, user-friendly design and the same security features as internet banking - SSL certification and password protection,” says Stark.



When visiting www.interbet.mob i for the first time, users sign up for the mobi site with their ID number and own chosen username and password. They can then create their own unique minimum 3-digit “Quick PIN” which will make future logins quick and easy. The PIN will only be available again on the same handset. From there, users can place tote bets, single fixed odds bets (for instance betting on one horse at a race) or a multiple bet (a basket of bets, for instance, combining one rugby bet on Bulls vs WP game, another on SA vs NZ and another on the outcome of a soccer match, together making up a bet slip). Users can also view their account by going into their account summary, their history of profits and losses and their current confirmed bets. To play on Interbet users need to fund their account, which can be done by credit card or bank transfers and telephone banking from any of SA’s major banks.



Stark believes mobi sites like this one will have a wider positive impact on the local sports industries. “The revenue created from horseracing betting is an important contributor to the survival and wellbeing of South African horseracing, which creates thousands of jobs and stimulates the economy. And with millions more sports enthusiasts now able to bet on their mobile phones, we can reconnect people to the racetrack,” says Stark.



Unlike other local sports betting mobi sites that offer access only to single bookmakers, the Interbet mobi site offers the public access to almost 100 of SA’s top bookmakers, enabling punters to negotiate for the best odds in fixed odds betting (similar to share trading on the stock exchange). Interbet customers get wholesale odds so they consistently get returns on winning bets that are 20-30% higher, or more, than the industry average.



Because betting is a game of knowledge and skill, not chance, Interbet.mobi provides market information, trading data and horse racing form (wins, losses, jockey, trainer etc.) to equip punters. No other sports betting service in South Africa offers this. The Interbet system is also the only one to offer punters total anonymity when placing their bets.



Stark says research showed that there were between as many as 50 million mobile phones in South Africa and that mobile became the most pervasive form of media in the country in 2009. Mobile is believed to have 100% penetration in South Africa and is the only way for millions of South Africans to access the internet. “We therefore realise that mobile as a medium needs to be taken seriously and that this is the direction that sports betting needs to take,” says Stark.

Stark said Interbet strived to create a mobi site with beautiful design. “The new Interbet mobi site is designed not only to make sports betting simpler and more efficient in South Africa, but is an advancement in mobi design in SA in itself and will open up the exciting world of sports betting to a new market that does not have access to fixed line internet but thrives on mobile.”



Interbet is also currently working with partners in the industry to set up South Africa’s first live stream horseracing on mobile. Interbet will be ready to launch as soon as external infrastructure issues are addressed – a process the company is currently advocating for.



Interbet is committed to responsible gambling for over 18s only.


Watch Johnny Starks slideshow