The Telegraph – The Football Pools date back to 1923 when coupons were first sold to Manchester United fans outside Old Trafford. Despite a sharp decline in popularity during the nineties, they are still played by as many as 500,000 people a year.
Sportech revealed on Thursday it has signed a revenue-sharing agreement with France-Pari, which will allow the French to bet both on their own league games but also the English Premier League.
Outside of Britain, the Football Pools are played in a number of small countries such as the Seychelles and the Mauritius but France would be a major step forward for the game, which by Sportech’s own admission, was expected to be extinct by now.
The pools experienced a slump in popularity in the nineties following the launch of the National Lottery and a rise in other forms of gaming.
Ian Penrose, chief executive of Sportech, admitted the deal with France-Pari was a tentative step into unknown territory for the company but said he was hopeful the 89-year-old game would sit well with French punters.
