SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Irish Sports betting operator Paddy Power will tweet ‘near-live’ World Cup football clips to its 354,000 followers, after securing a deal with UK broadcaster, ITV.
The partnership will allow the bookmaker and TV network to tweet up to 10 match highlights until after the final on July 13th. Twitter Amplify believes highlight reels can kick start conversations and target diverse audiences. Their current partners include the likes of the NBA, PGA Tour, and WWE.
Tom Wyse, Head of Media at Paddy Power, said: “Paddy Power is always striving to provide our followers with the most entertaining content possible, so what better way than to deliver them high quality World Cup clips as soon as they happen.”
The sportsbook operator has proved immensely popular with punters, but came in for some criticism after its elaborate #Shavetherainforest stunt.
The Irish bookie later revealed the truth behind its Amazon rainforest hoax, which sent dozens of twitterati barking up the wrong tree, after making it appear that thousands of trees had just been felled to show support for the England World Cup squad. However, they later admitted that although it was “a bit out of left field to raise awareness of deforestation by pretending to chop down the Amazon”, Greenpeace had informed them that an area the size of 122 football pitches is axed every 90 minutes, the standard length of a football game.
The computerised gag took three weeks to pull off, but Paddy Power came under rapid fire from people who believed the joke was real. A lot of users threatened and swore at the company, while one said that if the feat was genuine, they’d “wholeheartedly plan on emigrating”. The gambling chain finally came clean with this cut.
