HAS AYRE REALLY LEFT BODOG?

25 April 2008

Scepticism and surprise that online gambling's playboy is walking away


Several online gambling industry observers expressed both surprise and scepticism over the weekend, when a press release from Bodog was distributed advising that founder and CEO Calvin Ayre (47) was departing the Bodog operational online gambling scene to focus on charitable work through the Calvin Ayre Foundation.

One of the most high profile executives in the industry, Ayre was probably equally high on the US Department of Justice list of industry personalities worth "talking to" in pursuit of its anti-online gambling objectives.

Referring to what it described as his "largely ceremonial role" in the online gambling and media entertainment group, the release claimed that billionaire Ayre will no longer be involved operationally after transferring ownership of the Bodog brand to the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group in the Canadian Mohawk sovereign territory of Kahnawake.

The transfer of brand ownership to former Olympic sportsman Alwyn Morris operating from the enclave caused considerable comment last year, when Bodog became embroiled in a patent dispute with 1st Technologies which saw its domains confiscated and the imposition of a multi-million dollar default judgement.

The statement added that internationally Bodog has put in place a very competent and significantly European executive team that is already managing Bodog Europe and Africa and plans to further expand to Latin America.

"Ayre will be taking some time to himself in his home in Antigua and will continue to support charitable opportunities through the Calvin Ayre Foundation, the statement continued, quoting Ayre as saying: "While it has been great fun to live my life in front of the world's cameras and online though my blog, I am looking forward to a more private and meaningful period of giving back and working to support the Calvin Ayre Foundation."

Bodog has its head office, and is licensed in, the Caribbean nation of Antigua. Bodog Life.com offers online gaming, which includes Poker, Casino and a host of other gaming products.

Ayre reaffirmed his decision on his personal blog, writing: "You’ve likely heard the rumblings and rumors….and for once…..it’s true…I’m packing it in! Well who am I kidding, if you’re reading this now you know that for the past few years I’ve been pretty focused on jetting around the world to exotic places and filming crazy sh** for this blog. I was really more of a brand ambassador for Bodog the past while anyway – but it was fun while it lasted."

Industry observers drew attention to a previous Ayre subterfuge when Bodog was first building its brand back in the year 2000, and its founder took on the false identity of a world travelling adventurer whose tongue-in-cheek escapades were extravagantly publicised by an online gambling information portal for some months before he revealed his more believable executive persona.

Ayre has remained a controversial figure throughout his business career, the Vancouver Sun pointed out in an article on his departure. Reporters revealed he had been implicated in a marijuana-trafficking ring in 1987. He was not charged, but his father and brother in law received lengthy jail terms. He was also allegedly involved in a shady Vancouver company called Bicer Medical Systems, and in 1996, he admitted to serious stock offences and agreed to a 20-year suspension from the British Columbia securities market.

Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Justice officials stepped up their war on online gambling and made it clear they had Ayre in their crosshairs. Fearing arrest, he steered clear of U.S. soil, and it is possible that he has tired of the cat-and-mouse game with U.S. authorities. Or, as the Vancouver Sun enigmatically opines, on the other hand it may signal a renewal of that same game.

Ayre promoted Bodog as a lifestyle, bringing to it an amalgam of Richard Branson's Virgin and Hugh Hefner's pin-up girl Playboy image. He also diversified into music, mixed martial arts and film, which attracted more attention to the website.

By 2006, the company was generating more than US$7 billion US in turnover, making it the seventh-largest online gambling company in the world. That same year, Forbes magazine featured Ayre on the cover of its March issue as one of the world's 794 billionaires. People magazine named him one of its 40 hottest bachelors.

Ayre is reputed to live on the Caribbean island of Antigua, although he has apparently retained close property and business links with Vancouver.

Observers have also commented on the Bodog statement's reference to a change of Bodog ownership to Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, pointing out that all that was announced last September was that Ayre had "licensed" Bodog's "North American" operations to the Morris group, without any indication that a change of ownership of the company itself had been a part of the deal.

Such a change would probably help insulate the online gambling group from legal activity, given the First Nation sovereignty of the Morris group's domicile in Kahnawake.

Uncharacteristically, Ayre has apparently declined to comment further on his situation - but it is unlikely that this is the last the industry has heard of the man.

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