// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the starlizard say? "You're a star in my eyes, lizardly
| Type | Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports analytics Sports betting |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder | Tony Bloom |
| Headquarters | Camden, London, England |
| Website | starlizard |
Starlizard is a British sports betting consultancy and analytics business based in Camden, London. The legal company, Star Lizard Consulting Limited, was incorporated in 2006. Starlizard produces statistical models and sporting predictions, mainly for football, and provides betting analysis and bet-execution services.[1][2][3]
Tony Bloom, the professional gambler and owner of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., founded Starlizard. Business Insider described him in 2016 as the company's largest client, while The Times reported in 2024 that he did not own or run it.[1][4] Starlizard works closely with Bloom's betting syndicate. Sources sometimes discuss the two operations together, but distinguish the consultancy from the syndicate itself.[1][5]
Starlizard data has been used in recruitment by Brighton and Belgian club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.[6][7] Star Lizard Consulting also controlled the company later named Jamestown Analytics from its formation in 2017 until 2023.[8][4] A separate division, Starlizard Integrity Services, analyses betting markets for signs of possible match manipulation.[9]
History
[edit]Star Lizard Consulting Limited was incorporated on 24 January 2006 as Starlizard Commercial Limited. It changed its name to Starlizard Consulting Limited in April 2008 and to Star Lizard Consulting Limited the following month.[10]
Bloom had previously operated the online bookmaker Premier Bet. Business Insider reported in 2016 that he set up Starlizard after that venture, with the new business focused on proprietary odds and analysis rather than taking bets from the public. The publication called Bloom Starlizard's "architect" and largest client, and noted that he was not one of its directors.[1] The Guardian reported in 2025, citing documents filed in the High Court, that Star Lizard Consulting was originally owned by Blue Lizard Consulting, of which Bloom was the majority shareholder.[11] The current Companies House register does not list Bloom as a person with significant control of Star Lizard Consulting. It records Adam Franks as holding at least 75 per cent of the company's shares and voting rights and having the right to appoint or remove directors. Marc Sugarman, who had held between 25 and 50 per cent of the shares and voting rights, ceased to be a person with significant control on 1 August 2025.[12]
Operations
[edit]Starlizard specialises in using sporting data and statistical models to produce its own probabilities for betting markets. Its principal historical focus has been football, particularly the Asian handicap and total-goals markets.[1][2] The company describes its current activities as including data analysis, sporting predictions, analytics, technology and bet execution.[13]
Business Insider reported that Starlizard did not itself take wagers from the public. It produced proprietary odds and analysis for clients and also placed bets with bookmakers on their behalf. At the time, staff collected football data, quantitative analysts built models, and other teams decided which betting opportunities to pursue and executed the bets.[1]
Bloom set up a betting syndicate around the same period. Former employees and betting-industry sources interviewed by Business Insider often used Starlizard and Bloom's syndicate almost interchangeably, but the investigation described separate roles for them. Starlizard supplied the analysis, while Bloom was its largest client and the main source of capital for the syndicate.[1] The Racing Post made a similar distinction in 2025, describing Bloom as Starlizard's primary client and saying its data was used to place substantial bets for his gambling syndicates.[2] In a High Court defence filed in 2026, Bloom said that Star Lizard Consulting operated the syndicate and maintained information barriers between departments and staff involved in placing bets.[5] Business Insider reported that, in the syndicate's early years, several Starlizard employees used advance knowledge of its selections to place personal bets before the syndicate did, affecting the available odds. According to the investigation, Starlizard subsequently barred employees from placing personal bets and separated parts of the operation to restrict the flow of information between staff. Starlizard declined to comment on the allegation.[1]
Football analytics
[edit]ESPN reported in 2024 that Brighton & Hove Albion used Starlizard data as part of its recruitment process. Technical director David Weir said the database covered a large proportion of professional footballers worldwide and helped narrow the initial pool of possible signings. Brighton then used scouting and other assessments before deciding whether to pursue a player.[6]
Starlizard data was also used at Royale Union Saint-Gilloise after Bloom and former Starlizard employee Alex Muzio acquired the Belgian club in 2018. The New York Times reported in 2021 that Muzio initially presented the manager with players selected and assessed using Starlizard data. Muzio said that Union and Brighton drew on similar methods but operated independently.[7]
Star Lizard Consulting was the person with significant control of Sprint Innovate Limited from that company's incorporation on 19 July 2017, holding at least 75 per cent of its shares and voting rights and the right to appoint or remove directors.[8] Sprint Innovate was renamed Jamestown Analytics Limited on 4 May 2023.[14] Star Lizard Consulting ceased to control the company on 1 September 2023, when Johan Moazed became its person with significant control.[8]
The Times described Jamestown in 2024 as an offshoot of Starlizard that had been created specifically to work with football clubs. It reported that Starlizard had directly supplied data to Brighton and Union until 2023, when it decided to concentrate on its core activities, and that Jamestown was by then independent of Bloom's business network.[4]
Integrity services
[edit]Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) was formed as a distinct division in 2017 to analyse betting markets for evidence of possible match manipulation, although Starlizard had undertaken integrity work before the division was formally established.[9]
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision in the case of Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey records that FIFA's Early Warning System received reports from several monitoring partners, including Starlizard, concerning irregular betting movements around the November 2016 World Cup qualifying match between South Africa and Senegal. During the subsequent CAS proceedings, FIFA submitted a Starlizard "Match Integrity Analysis Report" issued in July 2017. A Starlizard football betting analyst also gave evidence about the betting patterns observed during the match.[15]
Starlizard also supplied betting-monitoring analysis in UEFA's proceedings against Albanian club KF Skënderbeu Korçë. After CAS dismissed the club's appeal in 2019, UEFA said that monitoring reports supplied by Starlizard and other providers had been confirmed as appropriate tools for investigating match-fixing.[16]
High Court proceedings
[edit]In 2025, former Starlizard employee and betting associate Ryan Dudfield brought High Court proceedings against Star Lizard Consulting Limited and Bloom, claiming that he was owed $17.5 million under a profit-sharing arrangement.[11][2][17] Court filings reported by The Guardian referred to the operation as the "Starlizard Betting Syndicate" or Tony Bloom's betting syndicate and alleged that it used betting accounts held in the names of third parties. The claim alleged that the syndicate generated around £600 million a year in winnings; The Guardian noted that the syndicate's total winnings were unknown.[11]
Bloom filed a defence in January 2026. He acknowledged that his syndicate had placed bets through accounts held by George Cottrell and that a profit-sharing agreement had existed involving Bloom, Cottrell and Dudfield, but denied that Dudfield was entitled to further payments. Bloom's defence also described the claimed £600 million annual figure as an exaggeration.[5]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Williams-Grut, Oscar (February 2016). "The inside story on Britain's greatest sports gambler - and the company that helps him win". Business Insider. Retrieved 24 September 2026 – via TheJournal.ie.
- 1 2 3 4 Scargill, Peter (4 December 2025). "High Court case alleges Tony Bloom's betting empire makes £600m a year - so what do we know about his Starlizard syndicate?". Racing Post. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Join Our Team". Starlizard. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 Kershaw, Tom (19 October 2024). "The secretive analytics company helping clubs unearth next Moisés Caicedo". The Times. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 Isaac, Anna (23 January 2026). "Billionaire gambler Tony Bloom denies owing millions to former colleague". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- 1 2 Olley, James (8 May 2024). "How Brighton's transfer mastery broke Premier League profit record". ESPN. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- 1 2 Smith, Rory (27 December 2021). "Building a Belgian footballing force – with English expertise". The Irish Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Jamestown Analytics Limited: persons with significant control". Companies House. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Who we are". Starlizard Integrity Services. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Star Lizard Consulting Limited overview". Companies House. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 Isaac, Anna (2 December 2025). "Key aide to Nigel Farage was frontman for Premier League billionaire's betting syndicate, lawsuit claims". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Star Lizard Consulting Limited: persons with significant control". Companies House. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "What we do". Starlizard. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Jamestown Analytics Limited overview". Companies House. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "CAS 2017/A/5173 Joseph Odartei Lamptey v. FIFA" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "UEFA welcomes the CAS decision on Skënderbeu". UEFA. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Christopher Snell". 33 Chambers. Retrieved 24 September 2026.