End of an Era as CalvinAyre.com Closes its Doors

By Dave Sawyer, Last updated Jul 1, 2023

The gambling news site CalvinAyre.com closed down in the middle of  last week, after nearly 12 years being online, with Calvin Ayre himself publishing a message on the site to all visitors as to the reason behind its closure.

Ayre for those who have been around the world of iGaming and online casinos will know that he is of course synonymous with Bodog, with Bodog having been established way back in 2000.

Ayre actually setup his own gambling business in the late 1990’s, in 1996 prior to the creation of Bodog. By 2006 after ten years working in the industry he had amassed a personal wealth which saw him feature as the cover story on the Forbes 2006 annual Billionaire Edition. Bodog’s growth in the early years and Ayre’s close association as the face of the Bodog brand was such that it saw him appear on episodes of MTV Cribs, ABC Nightline and VH1’s Fabulous Life of.

By 2005 the Bodog business had shown rapid growth with reported turnover in excess of $7bn and revenue of $210m. After the passing of the UIGEA, Bodog withdrew from the US and Ayre licensed the Bodog brand to the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, with Ayre subsequently ‘retiring’ from the gambling business.

However, in 2009 CalvinAyre.com was established by Ayre and for the past 12 years it has been one of the go to sites for news concerning the online gambling industry. Speaking about his decision to launch CalvinAyre.com, Ayre himself said: “In 2009, despite having relinquished any active role in the online gambling industry years earlier, I launched CalvinAyre.com due to my dissatisfaction with the news sites that then dominated discussion of the gaming sector.”

“I found their coverage too deferential to the established giants of the day and too oblivious of the changes I saw looming on the horizon.”

Over the past 12 years CalvinAyre.com has kept a high profile in the online gambling and iGaming industry, live streaming from award events, with reporters in place at all the main trade shows that were held throughout the calendar year, year on year. Any owner and operator of a site operating in the iGaming space wanted any new news about their business to be featured on CalvinAyre.com.

The CalvinAyre.com ‘Head On-Site Reporter’ Becky Liggero, regularly produced and published video interviews on the site with hundreds of individuals involved in the industry, an equivalent of the who’s who of iGaming. But this is all to be no more, with Liggero joining Ayre in his new venture CoinGeek.com, where she holds the position of ‘Lead Gaming Industry Video Reporter, Writer, Interviewer & Content Creator’.

Ayre speaking about the new direction he is taking, said: “My primary focus may have changed, but you never forget your first love. So for those who came looking for archived CalvinAyre.com gambling articles, they live on.”

“For those looking to learn more about the endless possibilities of BSV – including how it will impact the gambling industry – I encourage you to visit [CoinGeek.com] and join me on my next great adventure.”

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