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Gambling911.com sat down with Covers.com’s Joe MacDonald in hopes of setting the record straight regarding that popular sports betting information website’s relationship with now defunct BetED.com. MacDonald was emphatic: “We don’t own BetED.com and never did”.
Since BetED.com was shut down last month following a seizure of the company’s website by US authorities out of Northern Maryland, rumors have swirled that Covers.com “owned” upwards of 90 percent of the company through an “affiliate arrangement”.
“I don’t know where this is coming from,” MacDonald told Gambling911.com, again insisting there was no such arrangement.
Various media outlets within the industry have pointed to the fact that BetED.com was rated “number one” by Covers for nearly two years.
There is some degree of irony in this type of ratings system, as MacDonald pointed out to us.
“We didn’t want to be held over the barrel again,” he said, referencing another high profile online sportsbook that parted ways with Covers after being rated their number one betting outlet for years.
“We wanted a company where they owners were not interested in being billionaires, who did not want the limelight.”
The advertisers willing to pay the big bucks would be rated number 2 through 9, below BetED, MacDonald tells us.
As for any type of revenue sharing deal with BetED, MacDonald did not hold back.
“That is total bulls***!” he insisted.
“Our deal with BetED was this, we approached them and asked ‘What is your budget’ and why not just give it to us. We will list you number one. Just go with us exclusively.”
While BetED.com advertised elsewhere, including at Gambling911.com, it is widely believed that the brunt of BetED’s business came from the Covers.com website.
MacDonald would certainly have no problem acknowledging this.
“I feel terrible but there were no signs BetED.com would be in any type of trouble.”
BetED.com found itself caught up in a sting operation orchestrated by the US Attorney’s Office out of Northern Maryland. That office, with the assistance of other agencies, set up a phony payment processing system. As a result of that arrangement, BetED found itself able to convert new signups better than most of its competitors.
The book always focused on casual bettors, never exposing itself to so-called “whales” (professional sports bettors) or credit gamblers. The company was in business for well over a decade.
“We were happy to have them on the site,” MacDonald said. “Unfortunately we got bit in the ass.”
BetED.com has yet to pay back players, claiming the company’s funds were seized in their entirety by the US Attorney’s Office.
MacDonald suggests it is possible that BetED owners would become complacent and didn’t see the need to set up offshore structures across the world since their player base was the “small guy”, betting around $10 a game or depositing $100 at a time on average.
Gambling911.com anticipates speaking with David Parchomchuk in the coming days. He is one of two men named in the indictment as an “owner” of BetED.com. He, too, denies any such ownership in the company.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
