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Bwin was effectively formed in 1997, although it was initially known as betandwin. It started out small, like many of the early gambling operators, with just 12 employees. One year after the company began, its first gambling site was launched. The focus at the time was on sports betting, and that remains a key part of the business today.
The company experienced a great deal of early success, and in 2000 they launched an initial public offering on the Vienna Stock Exchange, raising in excess of €50 million. The following year they acquired another bookmaking firm, Simon Bold (Gibraltar).
Operations were moved to Gibraltar, a location that was becoming increasingly popular with online gambling companies.
Another big move in 2001 was the addition of online casino games to their betting site. In 2002, the company introduced the first online live sports betting platform, allowing customers to place bets on sporting events while they were taking place. This is something that most betting sites now offer and has had a huge impact on the popularity of online betting.
Acquisitions were an important part of betandwin’s growth strategy, and one of the most significant was made in 2005.
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This came a little more than one year after betandwin had started to offer poker games on its site for the first time.
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By 2006, the company felt that the name betandwin was no longer suitable. This was a gambling site that was about much more than just betting, and so it was decided that a new name should be chosen. As a result the Bwin brand was born, to better reflect the assortment of gambling activities that the company offered.
Other key moments in the history of Bwin include offering live streaming of major sports events (2007), the acquisition of Italian poker site Gioco Digitale (2009), and becoming the first site to be offered a French gaming license (2010).
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Throughout the years the company has been very active in sponsorships, putting their name to a number of sporting events and teams including soccer giants Real Madrid and AC Milan.