Bodog: new poker network, media ventures, coffee business; South America tie sought 23/06/2009

Jon Parker

BODOG IS to launch a new online poker network, two new media ventures and a coffee business, and is also looking for a franchise partner in Latin America, EGRmagazine.com can reveal exclusively.

Billionaire Bodog founder Calvin Ayre (pictured) uncovered the plans in a full and frank interview  which will feature in the September issue of eGaming Review.

In this he discusses his vision of Bodog as a “branded venture capital fund like Virgin,” as well as his life after America’s UIGEA ban on online gambling.

Ayre said the new poker network will distinguish itself in the online poker market by Bodog’s distinctive ‘outsider’ brand.

“A lot of the brands are the same as each other and there’s not much differentiation. The Bodog model was rolled out in 2006 because it differentiated itself on a brand values basis, and that’s going to be a big part of the strategy in Europe,” he said.

The new poker network will pool the liqudity of the existing Bodog poker franchises but also allow other operators to join it. It will be based in Kahnawake, Canada, with a business development team in London.  “The centre of gravity in the Bodog world is shifting to London, which is the centre of the gaming universe right now, and we’re taking advantage of it," Ayre said. "The UK has completely opened up to the global network and London has the infrastructure to support it”.

The two new media properties will be launched before Christmas. One, Bodog Life, is a retail targeted venture featuring lifestyle content. The other, a relaunched CalvinAyre.com, will be a 'tablog' covering online egaming news in a tabloid style, while still featuring Ayre’s blog.

“Bodog Life is aimed at growing the Bodog brand globally,” Ayre said. “The tablog is just for my own enjoyment.”

The coffee venture could be a Starbucks-like model combining Bodog-branded kiosks and shop fronts, Ayre said, and/or a Bodog-branded coffee line.

Ayre has already purchased the rights to the Illy coffee brand in one South American country that he would not disclose, and is presently “immersing myself in the coffee industry and learning everything else I need to know about it, fast”, he said.  

Franchise model and South America

Ayre explained that projects were among several new ventures possible under Bodog’s franchise model, which is promoted through media including BodogBrand.com.

“I think the strongest business model you can put in place is the franchise. If you look at it from a brand perspective, there is no other brand that is in every market in the way that we are.”

The franchise already includes the Bodog Asia brand launched last month with Haydock Sports, Bodog’s America-facing brand, licensed to Mohawk Morris Gaming Group in 2007, and the Bodog Europe brand ramping up its European marketing ahead of the 2009-10 football season.

Ayre said: “I think the word ‘Bodog’ could be applied to anything associated with entertainment: gambling, coffee, sport - even a clothing line. Bodog has an edgy, street image and anything we could reproduce in that line could work. But clearly we’re not going to start selling girl-guide cookies.”

For more on this story, read the CEO Interview in the September 2009 edition of eGaming Review.

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Posted: 23/06/2009