There is something about Victor Chandler that has always been found attractive by the public. We do not know if it is Mr. Chandler’s business flair, his resourcefulness, provocative talking or the fact that he obviously knows how to attract authorities’ attention, but he has undoubtedly left his mark in the history of the UK gambling industry.
The personal wealth of Victor Chandler was also a widely-commented topic, as he was known as one of the richest people in the UK gambling industry. In 2009, the Sunday Times published its Richlist, putting Mr. Chandler at the 362th position, with a personal fortune estimated to £150 million, after being reduced by more than a half from £365 million in 2008.
Born in 1951, Victor Chandler is often given credit as the first bookmaker in the UK who has actually realised the importance of online gambling. And of course, Mr. Chandler has not stopped here. He was also the first to move his gaming business outside the country in order to take advantage of more favourable economic and legislation conditions.
Apart from the creating one of the largest betting businesses in the UK gambling industry, Victor Chandler is also known as an owner of a large number of racehourses over the past three decades in the UK, US and South Africa. In addition, he became the main sponsor of Nottingham Forese F.C. in 2009.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Victor Chandler started accepting football wagers from clients residing in the far East. This was the time when Mr. Chandler first recognised the potential growth of foreign markets and the advantages provided to gaming businesses there. As a result, he established a betting office in Antigua and this way he evaded the requirement for customers to pay UK tax.
Back then, there was a requirement for punters to pay a 9% betting tax in the UK. In 1996, Victor Chandler got a betting licence in Gibraltar and moved his entire betting business there three years later. After doing that, he managed to grow the company into one of the leading operators in the industry.
BetVictor
BetVictor, formerly known as Victor Chandler International, is a leading bookmaker, based in Gibraltar. No matter that at the first years of its existence the company specialised primarily in sports betting on the Internet, currently it offers online casino games and poker, too.
The betting company was established more than 70 years ago by the grandfather of Victor Chandler – William Chandler. The latter was first taken over by Victor’s father, but after his sudden death in 1974, the business passed over to Victor Jr. Later, it was re-branded to BetVictor after its former chairman. Currently, the company is owned by Michael Tabor, a businessman and racehorse owner.
As mentioned above, back in 1998 Victor Chandler was resourceful enough to take the entire business outside the UK in order to avoid its gambling tax. The process was finalised in 1999, when the headquarters of BetVictor were moved to Gibraltar.
A few years later, in 2004, the name of the company was changed to VC Bet due to branding reasons. The bookmaking operator was renamed to Victor Chandler four years later, and four more years later the company was finally renamed to BetVictor.
Apart from being one of the largest sports betting operators in the UK gambling industry, the company has also been known as a main sponsor of a number of sporting events. It has backed the Victor Chandler Chase, and in 2013 it became a sponsor of the World Matchplay Darts and the Welsh Open snooker events. In 2014, the company added the Queen Mother Champion Chase to the list of its supported events.
- Author
Harry Evans
