Online betting has become one of the biggest industries on the Internet today. Until around the turn of the century, bookmaking was something that was common in the high street, but almost completely absent online. Things have changed though, and the vast majority of the main players have now complemented their successful offline businesses with online betting sites.

One such company is Betfred. They were founded by Fred Done in Manchester as far back as the 1960s, and today they have grown to one of the most famous brands in the industry. They are particularly well known due to the PR friendly antics of Fred Done himself, who has always been a real character of the betting scene.

Fred is a huge Manchester United fan and this passion for the club has sometimes clouded his better judgement, leading to a couple of notable moments. The first was back in 1998, when Betfred paid out early on all bets for Manchester United to win the league. This was in March when they had a handsome lead, but a dip in form allowed the lead to be eroded by Arsenal who eventually edged them to the title by a single point. Cue Betfred having to pay out a second time on the same market!

The second was a bet with fellow bookmaker Victor Chandler, again it was a bet involving Manchester United. This time Fred bet a cool million that United would finish higher than Chelsea in the 2004-05 Premier League season. Chelsea won the league and Fred lost out again.

Football is at the heart of betting with Betfred, and they have recently secured an extension of their exclusive deal with Wembley stadium - the home of English football. This allows them to operate betting booths at the stadium, as well as placing adverts in front of the vast audience.

It is perhaps a result of all this high quality PR that Betfred has continued to attract the customers in droves. The football sponsorship and extra payouts have clearly proved a good way of creating the all important edge in this ultra-competitive industry.

Brand identity is one thing to bring customers in, but furthermore Betfred offers a huge free bet for new users of its online betting site. At the time of this report, the free bet was a £50 match offer. To qualify, create a new account, place a bet to the same value with your own deposited funds and Betfred will match it with another £50 free bet. Additional information on this process can be found below.

The Betfred website is one of the very best online betting sites. It is clearly laid out with easy access to all the key features and sporting events. A nice option is that the format of the odds can quickly be changed from the main page, irrespective of whether or not you are signed in. This is ideal for those with a preference for decimal odds rather than the more traditional fractional odds.

I would not hesitate to recommend Betfred. Why not join in the fun and get involved today, making sure of course that you take advantage of the Betfred free bet. There is also a chance that you could be the next person to benefit from one of Fred's early payouts.