William Hill has announced the rebranding of its acquired Australian betting firms Sportingbet, Centrebet and TomWaterhouse under its name.
Sportingbet’s existing clients will be migrated to its new local website WilliamHill.com.au while Centrebet and TomWaterhouse.com will also be rebranded as William Hill in due course.
“This is the exciting first step towards merging three Australian betting brands into one highly regarded, international brand. Placing all of our assets behind one brand will allow us to provide our customers with the best possible wagering experience and more diverse betting opportunities,” Tom Waterhouse, CEO of William Hill Australia said. “William Hill has a rich history in betting on racing and sports, and the brand will enable us to leverage decades of global wagering expertise and understanding to help us establish the best possible product for punters in Australia.”
Waterhouse is the new CEO of William Hill Australian and has been dynamic in shaping the image of William Hill by reconfiguring its marketing strategy and transforming the three acquired firms into one platform.
William Hill acquired the Sportingbet Australia business, which included Centrebet, in March 2013 followed by TomWaterhouse.com’s acquisition in August 2013.
Meanwhile, Paddy Power Australian-facing brand Sportsbet, which has recently come under fire after it took bets on “what name the former Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner would take if he was to undergo a gender transition”, apologized but stayed firm on its decision to turn Jenner’s personal life into gambling.
The betting company received criticism from trans advocates. “Sportsbet are clearly engaging in emotional vampirism of the very worst kind,” said Kelley Glanney, a transgender who leads the Carmen Rupe Memorial Trust. “[A] corporation publicly mocking members of a historically-persecuted and still highly-marginalized minority for the sole purpose of driving sales for their online gambling products is simply not acceptable in a civilized 21st century society.”